Christiano Ronaldo and N’Golo Kante. Two great players, two serial winners and two footballers who could have ended up in Arsenal, instead of Manchester United and Chelsea. And Arsene Wenger admits, it’s his biggest regret. The creator of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’, a coach who is well known for finding raw talent for cheap did have his misses during his tenure with the Gunners, and these two players are among them.Arsene Wenger: I should have left Arsenal way back in 2007Wenger was interviewed for SPORTbible by his former striker Ian Wright and when asked is there any player he regrets not buying, he named these two, one at the start of his managerial career with Arsenal, the other near the end. “Certainly Cristiano Ronaldo. It was possible and if we had been a fraction quicker, a few days, because we had agreed, and Man United came in five, six days later. So I would say at the start of my career, Cristiano Ronaldo. And the end of my career, N’Golo Kante” said the Frenchman. Sir Alex confesses: Henry’s arrival at Arsenal turned my rivalry with Wenger toxicArsenal had tried to sign Kante from Leicester City in 2016 after he helped them towards an astonishing Premier League title before pulling out of the race. But what’s even worse, if Wenger listened to his friend, he could have signed him even before Leicester. “He played in a club in Paris. That’s called Suresnes where one of my best friends is a director and he told me: “Please, I have a player who we know is unbelievable. Nobody wants him in France.” He took him in his car and travelled with him from club to club, and finally a club from division three in France took N’Golo Kante. It is an unbelievable story, N’Golo Kante – you could make a film as well with him. He is something that you don’t find often. He wins the ball without making any foul. And straight away, he moves that ball forward” recalls Wenger.Wenger’s new signing brings back good old memories and provides hope for African prodigiesApart from big name signings, the Frenchman always had some hard working, under the radar players who played their part in winning trophies. And when asked about the most underrated player during his tenure, his answer was: “Gilberto Silva. He was naturally discreet. I remember when I bought him in 2002 he was in Japan at the World Cup. I looked at him and I thought he doesn’t make anything special but then you think who won that ball and it’s Gilberto Silva, or who made that pass and it’s Gilberto Silva. I went to buy him and after that I would say in the Invincibles nobody speaks about him but he’s the kind of player you see only how much they miss them when they don’t play. When they play they find it all natural. Olivier Giroud was a bit like that in the other way. That means when he missed a pass it was always a clumsy pass but when you didn’t play him you missed some presence up front. It was a bit similar in a different way. Lauren as well he was a real fighter of the old times” admitted Wenger.
