Wenger rues Di Maria miss

Arsene Wenger is one manager whose brilliance exceeds the match tactics and strategies required to win games. The Frenchman has always had the opportunity to spot very talented players in their youth but the weird thing is he usually ignores those early calls only for him to rue his miss later in the future. Amongst his missed talents, are Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Petr Cech, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi amongst others.

Two things that all these players have in common is that firstly, Wenger had the chance to sign but ignored them in their youth and secondly they all went on to be masters in their various clubs. One particular miss that has come to light of recent is that of Manchester United’s summer arrival, Angel Di Maria whose transfer to Old Trafford made him the most expensive player in the English Premier League history.

Wenger who also missed out on the chance to sign Yaya Toure despite already having the Ivorian’s elder brother in his ranks admitted that he had the chance to hire the services of Angel Di Maria back in the day in a deal that wouldn’t have cost the North London club a dime, however, since Arsenal could not work out a work permit for the Argentine, he had to seek employers elsewhere.

Speaking to reporters, the Arsenal boss revealed that the Gunners scout had identified the winger when he was barely 17 and that he wanted very much for him to move to Arsenal but the permit issue cropped up and Di Maria eventually moved to Portuguese outfit Benfica SL.

However, Wenger was quick to play down the fact that he chose to ignore Di Maria same way he handled the Lionel Messi case when he highlighted the fact that Di Maria was identified in an international competition and not Messi who was still at Barcelona’s La Masia at the time of his deal.