Arsene Wenger says he tried and failed to sign N’Golo Kante for Arsenal twice

Just imagine if Arsenal had managed to sign everyone Arsene Wenger has said he's tried to sign over the years.

The list includes Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo (what are they all up to these days?) and now he's added another man to the list – Chelsea's N'Golo Kante. While he may not be as big a name as those other three, he's one of the key reasons Arsenal's cross-city rivals are currently sitting nine points clear at the top of the Premier League now – and it turns out Leicester are pretty shit without him as well.

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In his press conference this morning, Wenger said: "I watched their game against Liverpool and N'Golo Kante had a huge impact. "It's not a coincidence that they are in the position they are and Leicester were in the position they were in last year." And when journalists asked him whether he ever tried to sign the France international, Wenger admitted he had, "when he was in France, when he was at Leicester."

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So Wenger not only missed out on Kante to Leicester when he was a Caen player, he also failed to land his target in the summer – much to the joy of his local rivals. "I cannot explain to you absolutely everything, but it is quite obvious where he has gone," Wenger said. "Transfers are transfers, you cannot explain absolutely everything." Fair enough, but Arsenal fans are no doubt going to be left frustrated knowing that it could have been them, not Chelsea, who had a diminutive Frenchman bossing the midfield and driving them towards the Premier League title this season.