Gael Clichy says one of the best Premier League midfielders ever could’ve joined Arsenal

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Arsenal have all sorts of stories regarding transfer near misses.

From Cristiano Ronaldo to Kylian Mbappe, almost every high profile player in the game could’ve joined Arsenal at one point.

Speaking on Premier League Productions, Gael Clichy has now shared his own story on how a player he rated very highly could’ve joined Arsenal.

Indeed, Clichy played perhaps the best football of his career alongside Yaya Toure at Manchester City, but if the stars aligned differently, Clichy would’ve played with Toure years prior at Arsenal.

Yaya Toure could’ve joined Arsenal

Clichy spoke about Toure almost joining Arsenal.

“You played with Yaya at the peak of his powers, but you could’ve played with him at Arsenal?” Clichy was asked.

“Yes, the summer I signed he was with me on trial, but he decided not to come. I don’t think he was fit at the time, he didn’t train that much, we were young, but with Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva, maybe he didn’t want to come to sit on the bench, and he wanted gametime. I was lucky to play with him at his peak, what a player, he was one of the best we’ve had,” Clichy said.

Imagine that midfield

This one must hurt for Arsenal fans.

Toure was an absolutely incredible player in his prime, and we can’t even begin to think what Arsenal could’ve achieved with the Ivorian in the midfield.

Think about it, Toure would’ve played alongside Cesc Fabregas in this Arsenal midfield, and that would’ve been an absolute dream considering how their skillsets complimented one another around that period.

Arsenal would have been a serious force in the Premier League around that time if Toure had come in at the same time as Clichy.