Top 5 Players who rejected Arsenal

Top 5 Players who rejected Arsenal FC

Best players who rejected Arsenal? Top five players who rejected Arsenal? Top 5 world-class players who rejected Arsenal? 5 players who chose not to join Arsenal? Here we look at the top 5 players who rejected Arsenal.

Top 5 world-class players who rejected Arsenal

Some great players have agreed to sign for Arsenal recently. Players like Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Shkodran Mustafi come to mind. But some great players have also rejected the chance to join Arsenal. So who are they? Well we’re going to find out.

Top 5 players who rejected Arsenal

5. Jamie Vardy rejected joining Arsenal

Jamie Vardy defied all the odds to become one of the best strikers in the Premier League. The now 31-year-old was playing for non-league team Fleetwood Town before joining Leicester City for just £1 milllion in 2012.

Vardy broke a record when he scored in 11 consecutive Premier League matches in Leicester’s Premier League title winning campaign in 2015/16.

Arsenal came calling after that season and Arsene Wenger reportedly triggered the Englishman’s release clause which was £22 million. But Vardy rejected the chance to join Arsenal and chose to stay at Leicester City instead.

Vardy cited playing time as one of the reasons why he chose not to join the Gunners.

4. Vincent Kompany rejected Arsenal

Vincent Kompany is one of the best centre-backs on the planet on his day. The problem is, he’s been mostly injured for the past three years.

Kompany broke through into Belgian team Anderlecht at just 17-years-old. From there, it was obvious he was going to be a top defender. So Arsene Wenger came calling when it was obvious Arsenal needed a good defender. But Kompany decided it wasn’t the right time to join a top club as he felt it may halt his progress. So the 20-year-old joined Bundesliga club Hamburg instead.

Kompany went on to join Manchester City in 2008 and became a legend for them as they started their journey to Premier League dominance.

3. Luis Suarez is one of the top players who rejected Arsenal

Luis Suarez came to prominence after joining Liverpool in 2011. The Uruguayan scored an astonishing 31 goals in the Premier League in 2013/14 which equaled the Premier League record.

However, after the previous season in 2012/13, it was apparent that Suarez was unhappy with Liverpool’s inability to win trophies. Arsenal were interested in him and Wenger decided to make a perplexing bid of £40,000,001 to land him. Liverpool players such as Steven Gerrard persuaded Suarez to stay at Liverpool which in hindsight was a good decision.

Suarez went on to join Barcelona after the 2013/14 season and is now one of the best strikers in the planet.

2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic rejected Arsenal

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played everywhere. The Sweidsh striker has played in the Dutch league, The La Liga, the French Ligue 1 and the Serie A. But he had never ‘conquered’ England. So the big striker decided to join Manchester United in 2016.

However, he could have joined Arsenal back in 2000. After playing well for his hometown club Malmo in 1999 scoring goals, many top clubs were interested in him.

Wenger reportedly invited Zlatan to see him in North London and even offered the Swede the number nine shirt. But when Wenger asked Zlatan to partake in a trial at the club, Zlatan was offended and outraged. The Swede famously stated “Zlatan does not do auditions”.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Yes it’s hard to believe it now, but Arsenal were once close to signing the world’s best footballer.

After impressing many at Sporting Lisbon in 2002/03 every club including Manchester United and Arsenal were keen to sign the audaciously skillful Portuguese winger.

Why did Cristiano Ronaldo reject Arsenal?

Arsene Wenger met with Ronaldo at Arsenal’s stadium in 2002 after his displays with Sporting. Howevee, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to hijack the deal after the Portuguese winger impressed Fergie and United players in a friendly match against Manchester United. United signed Ronaldo and he went on to dominate England and later Real Madrid where he became the world’s best player.

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