Midfielder Aston Villa signed for £15m says he actually could have joined Arsenal

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Aston Villa and Arsenal have much in common.

Unai Emery has managed both the Villans and the Gunners, while an Arsenal fan in Ollie Watkins leads the line at Villa Park.

There is another connection in the form of Morgan Sanson – who actually ignored a move to Arsenal before later sealing a £15m move to Aston Villa.

Morgan Sanson admits he could have moved to Arsenal

The Frenchman revealed that he had an offer from Arsenal during an interview with CARRE.

Discussing his days at Montpellier – where he played from 2013 to 2017 – Sanson said: “My agent at the time, he called me and said, come to the office. He had written on the board, it said Paris, Lyon and Arsenal. He said to me, these are the clubs we have for you. So for me, it was crazy.”

Sanson eventually sealed a €12m (£10m) move to Marseille in January 2017 before his £15m switch to Aston Villa in January 2021 – but his time in the Midlands did not exactly go to plan.

The man born in Saint-Doulchard made just 21 Premier League appearances for the Villans from 2021 to 2024, with only six of those coming as starts as injuries plagued his time in England.

Sanson also saw the man who signed him – Dean Smith – sacked in November 2021 and replaced by Steven Gerrard, before eventually leaving Aston Villa for good in May 2024 when OGC Nice activated a €4m (£3.4m) option to buy after a successful loan.

Morgan Sanson would have been likely to experience a chaotic time at Arsenal too

In hindsight, some fans will naturally say Sanson made a mistake when rejecting Arsenal for Marseille back in January 2017.

However, the Gunners were on the brink of huge change that could have negatively impacted on the Frenchman.

April 2018 saw Arsene Wenger announce he would be leaving Arsenal at the end of that 2017/18 campaign – which sparked a period of uncertainty and a highly unsuccessful stint under the aforementioned Emery.

Unfortunately for Sanson, it just did not click for him in English football – and the same was likely to happen at Arsenal.