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Football London
Football London
Sport
Aaron Catterson-Reid

Arsene Wenger reveals how Arsenal nearly signed Chelsea's N'Golo Kante before Leicester transfer

Arsene Wenger enjoyed a trophy-laden 22-year spell as manager of Arsenal.

Wenger clinched a record seven FA Cup trophies and also won three Premier League titles - famously avoiding defeat across all 38 league matches during the 2003/04 triumph.

The Frenchman was known for his ability to spot supposed hidden gems before developing them into some of the world's finest players, with the likes of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas all developing into world-class players under his tutelage.

However, the former Monaco boss also has plenty of regrets from his time in north London, specifically how he nearly was able to convince footballing icon, Cristiano Ronaldo, to join the club back in 2003 before he eventually signed for Manchester United instead.

Now, Wenger has opened up on how he nearly was convinced to bring N'Golo Kante to the Emirates Stadium well before he made the move to Leicester City and eventually parent club Chelsea.

"The end of my career, N’Golo Kante", Wenger told Ladbible's YouTube channel when asked about regrets over not signing players.

“Because he played in a club in Paris where one of my best friends was a director and he told me, ‘please, I have a player, he is unbelievable, but no one wants him in France.’

“He [the friend] took him [Kante] in his car and travelled with him from club to club. And finally, a club in Division Three took Kante. It is an unbelievable story, you could make a film with him.

"And he is something you don’t find often: he wins the ball without making a foul and straight away he moves the ball forward.”

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