Arsenal have had their fair share of transfer near misses over the years, particularly at centre-back.
Lisandro Martinez was a concrete Arsenal target before his move to Manchester United, while Christopher Samba almost signed for Arsenal when he was in his prime as well.
Of course, Arsenal currently have William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-half, so they wouldn’t want to change a thing.
Saliba is the best defender in the world according to some, but before Saliba was a star at Arsenal, the Gunners almost signed another France international centre-half.
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, former Liverpool star, Mamadou Sakho, has claimed that he had an offer on the table from Arsenal before his move to Anfield, but he chose to join Liverpool after receiving advice from Nicolas Anelka in the past.
Mamadou Sakho could’ve signed for Arsenal
Sakho spoke about his move to Liverpool and the other options that were open to him.
Sakho signed for Liverpool for £19m in 2013, but he could’ve signed for Bayern Munich, Arsenal or Barcelona instead.
“Nicolas Anelka, in PSG, he trained with us for one month and he said to me ‘Mama, if you ever have a chance to go to the UK, Liverpool is something unbelievable.’” Sakho said.
“I remember, when I had the opportunity to move from PSG, I had the offer from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and I chose Liverpool.”
Mamadou Sakho record vs Arsenal
Arsenal have lived to regret some of their transfer near misses over the years.
Indeed, Arsenal failed to sign Federico Valverde at one point, while Gerard Pique almost signed for Arsenal too.
Both of those players went on to be hugely successful Champions League winners, but, unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Sakho.
Indeed, Sakho had a difficult time of it in the Premier League, as shown by his record against Arsenal.
| Mamadou Sakho record vs Arsenal | |
|---|---|
| Games | 6 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Draws | 3 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Games missed through injury | 10 |
Sakho wasn’t exactly the best defender during his time in England, and, sadly, he was also seriously affected by injuries.
Arsenal ultimately wouldn’t sign a new centre-back that summer, and when they eventually did dip into the market they didn’t get things right either, signing the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Calum Chambers who struggled at the Emirates.
Arsenal could have signed Sakho in 2013, but it would appear that Nicolas Anelka did the north London club a bit of a favour hear when urging the centre-back to join Liverpool instead.
