Arsenal have had their fair share of transfer near misses in recent years.
The Gunners have looked into signing a number of players who eventually went on to become stars, and speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, Adrian Clarke has been discussing some of the players over the years that Arsenal nearly signed.
Clarke says that the likes of Lautaro Martinez and Mohammed Kudus are two players he wishes Arsenal had signed, while he also named James Maddison as a player that Arsenal perhaps could have had who he dreams about potentially going back in for.
Clarke regrets missing out on Maddison
The pundit spoke about the £40m man and a few other Arsenal targets that have been and gone.
“Maddison was one that maybe we could’ve had. Kudus was strongly linked as a backup to Saka, and the one we’ve always seen and I never thought there were legs in it, Lautaro Martinez, I just think he’s such a good finisher, every year he seems to be banging them in, and we need a finisher. Those are the four that got away and I still dream that we may dip our toes back in and go for one of them,” Clarke said.
Would he start?
While it’s exciting to think of Maddison in an Arsenal shirt, we do have to question whether or not he would actually start in this side.
Martin Odegaard is the club captain and one of Arsenal’s most important players, and while he’s not been at his best this season, he’s still a top-class player who has outperformed Maddison over the past 18 months.
Maddison has probably been slightly better this season, but last term, there was no competition.
These two are undoubtedly two of the best attacking midfielders in England, and their presence at Spurs and Arsenal respectively will make the north London derby that much more exciting over the next few years.
