Arsene Wenger is famous for spotting many a young talent early on in their careers, and bringing them to North London to make them big stars later on. However, the Arsenal FC boss revealed his regret at not having signed Raheem Sterling when the winger was 15 years old.
Sterling was at QPR back then and was regarded as one of the best upcoming players from England. In fact Wenger even said that Arsenal FC were scouting the now England international. However, it was Liverpool FC who swooped in ahead of the Frenchman and signed Sterling for a reported fee of A?600,000.
“We had many players on the flanks, but when Sterling was at QPR — that’s where we should take the players,” Wenger was quoted as saying by ESPN.
“We watched him but you miss obvious players. The history of every club is full of top players that you missed. At the time Liverpool were quicker.”
Since then, Sterling has grown up to be one of the best wingers in England, and even earned a big-money move to Manchester City in the 2015 summer window. Manchester City paid a reported sum of A?49 million for the 21-year-old.
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Wenger has missed some big names in his career
Raheem Sterling is not the only big name Wenger had failed to sign when the latter was young. There are quite a few others who the Gunners boss has missed.
The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have also slipped through Wenger’s fingers. Both have gone on to become two of the biggest names in the world of football. Wenger on the other hand, can only sit and wonder about what his Arsenal FC team would have looked like, had he been able to sign all of them.