Wenger Reveals Reason He Missed Out On Signing Yaya Toure

Arsenal are preparing to welcome Manchester City to the Emirates tomorrow. Here, Gooner Mac brings us quotes from Arsene Wenger on Yaya Toure.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed the reason he missed out on the signing of Yaya Toure and claims the midfielder is his biggest transfer regret, according to the Express.

The boss has been speaking at his pre-match press conference this morning ahead of Saturday’s clash with Manchester City, where we’ll be up against the in-form Toure.

Arsene was asked by reporters about his previous attempts to sign the Ivory Coast international and the Frenchman recalled the time he came close to signing the 30-year-old back in 2003.

Toure had just impressed on trial at the club and we were able to come to an agreement with him. However, work permit complications held up the transfer and the delay saw the midfielder decide to join Ukrainian outfit Metalurh Donetsk – where he didn’t require a work permit.

Wenger described missing out on the powerful Ivorian as his biggest transfer regret, telling reporters:

“At the top,” Wenger joked when asked how high Toure ranked in his signing regrets.

“But let’s not forget Toure had an agreement with Arsenal. We waited for his passport in Belgium but he went to Ukraine [instead].

“He’s not a mistake but he preferred to go to Donetsk without a passport.”

#afc Wenger says Yaya Toure is biggest regret of his career. But says they wanted to sign him but couldn't get work permit

— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) March 28, 2014

Toure will certainly go down as one of the best that got away. We’ve been heavily criticised in recent years for lacking power and physicality in midfield and that certainly wouldn’t have been the case had we managed to to tie up the Toure deal back in 2003.

He’s continued his excellent form for City this season and followed up his hat-trick against Fulham with another goal against Manchester United on Tuesday. Let’s just hope the likes of Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini are able to do a better job at stopping him….

How gutted are Arsenal fans they missed out on Toure all those years ago? Share your thoughts below…