Superstars That Almost Signed For Arsenal As Youngsters

#5 Gianluigi Buffon (Age: 22)

Buffon in his early days with Parma

Pundits have been critiquing Arsenal’s goalkeepers for years. Since the departure of Jens Lehmann until the signing of Petr Cech, Arsenal fans had been begging Wenger to sign a keeper.

Had a dinner between Wenger and Gigi Buffon gone down a little better in 2000, perhaps Arsenal wouldn't have faced such criticism. The dinner took place in anticipation of the departure of club legend David Seaman.

Arsene was combing Europe for a long-term replacement and thought Gigi might save a few between the sticks.

Whatever hope the North London club of signing arguably the best keeper of all time was dashed when Juventus forked over 32.6 million pounds to Parma, a record transfer fee for a goalkeeper that was only recently broken in 2017 by the signing of Ederson.

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#4 Vincent Kompany (Age: 20)

Kompany opts for Hamburg instead of Arsenal

After strutting his stuff with Anderlecht in Belgium, some of Europe’s biggest clubs were after the young Vincent Kompany. The starlet’s agent had meetings with Madrid, Barcelona, and Arsenal.

Vincent’s agent felt as though he needed to go somewhere where the impressionable player would feel valued and could gain crucial experience on the pitch. Having brushed off three of the world’s biggest clubs, Kompany decided to sign with Hamburg before shipping off to England just two years later.