Arsene Wenger’s shortcomings in the transfer window have long been a huge bone of contention at Arsenal.
There’s no shortage of stories when it comes to Le Professeur failing to sign top players, but Harry Redknapp has offered one that will no doubt infuriate even Wenger’s biggest admirers at the club.
Former Spurs boss Redknapp has revealed that Luka Modric was being targeted by the Gunners before he moved to White Hart Lane in 2008 in a £16.5 switch from Dinamo Zagreb.
In his new book, ‘It shouldn’t happen to a manager‘, he claims, as quoted by the Daily Star:
“Luka Modric played off the left but I brought him inside.
“That’s even though some of my staff argued against it because they felt that he was not physically imposing enough to play in that area of the pitch.
“Arsene Wenger was put off signing him for Arsenal for that same reason.
“But we played him alongside Tom Huddlestone against a tough Chelsea midfield that included Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and John Obi Mikel.
“We won 2-1 and Luka still ran the game.”
Admittedly, the Croatian international did struggle to adapt to the Premier League in his early days at Spurs under Juande Ramos, but Redknapp’s arrival put his career back on track.
Even so, the thought that Wenger would dismiss the huge natural ability of the Real Madrid star because of his size is going to raise a few eyebrows – and Arsenal fans must be wondering who else they’ve missed out on as a result of that kind of poor judgement.
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