ARSENAL’S head scout urged then boss Arsene Wenger to snap up Juan Mata as Barcelona-bound Cesc Fabregas’ replacement in 2011.
But the Frenchman could not get that deal over the line – adding to a series of nearly men for the Gunners.
Juan Mata lifts the European Under-21 Championship trophy for Spain in 2011 – and could have moved to Arsenal soon afterCredit: Getty Images – Getty
These include Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa, all very early in their careers.
The Athletic has revealed in an article about Arsenal chief scout Francis Cagigao that he wanted Wenger to sign the 22-year-old Spain Under-21 star Mata from Real Madrid B along with Santi Cazorla, also a young Spanish starlet then and playing for Villarreal.
They would have come in as straight replacements for Fabregas, completing his £30million move back to Barca, and Samir Nasri, who was making a £25m switch to Manchester City.
The Athletic says: “The idea was for Arsenal to acquire like-for-like replacements and still turn a profit. Unfortunately, the club were not able to complete the deals — Mata went to Chelsea and Cazorla joined Malaga.”
Mata instead joined Valencia and later Chelsea for £25m three years later, eventually making a £37m move to Manchester United.
Wenger eventually got Cazorla a year later but only after he had a stunning year at Malaga where his value went up to £25m.
That summer, the Gunners boss instead signed potential in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who completed a £12m move from Southampton.
He also brought in centre-half Per Mertesacker from Werder Bremen for £10m and now Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for £10m from Premier League rivals Everton.
Wenger also signed £11m flop Gervinho and Andre Santos.
He also rejected Cagigao’s advice on centre-half Shkodran Mustafi and signed the German in 2016, arguably one of his worst signings.
Spaniard Cagigao had described Mustafi as a “mid-table player”.
Cagigao has been the Gunners chief scout for 23 years, covering the whole of the Wenger reign.
He now works with new boss Arteta.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
