Wenger reveals how and when Arsenal missed out on signing superstars Ronaldo and Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could have ended up playing together at Arsenal had things worked out differently.

Arsene Wenger, whose 22year managerial reign at the club came to a close at the end of the season, has revealed how he tried to sign both superstars for the Gunners. Instead Ronaldo went to Manchester United before going on to Real Madrid, while Wenger was unable to prise Messi from Barcelona.

“The obvious player [Arsenal missed out on] that comes to mind is Ronaldo,” the Frenchman told Arsenal.com.

“He was here with his mother and we were very close. Then Man United came in and they had Carlos Queiroz at the time, who was their coach. United played against Sporting Lisbon and Ronaldo was outstanding and they signed him.

“There is always something you could have done differently, but the problem of negotiations is to know when you give in and when you don’t give in.

“Once we were at £4.5 million, we were still in negotiations. David [Dein, then vice chairman] met with [agent Jorge] Mendes in Paris and he was representing Sporting, so we were very close. But Man United went to £12m, which we could not afford at the time.

“I met Cesc’s [Fabregas] parents and at the time we were interested in Messi and [Gerard] Pique as well.

“We tried for the three but of course it didn’t work out ... because of the agents.

“With Messi, Barcelona didn’t want to lose him of course and they made [the offer] that was needed to keep the player at the club.”