If you were to draw up a list of players that Arsenal, during the Arsène Wenger era mostly, missed out on, it would be one of the most impressive around.
It seems like every good player had the chance to move to Highbury or the Emirates at some point, and while some do choose that route, others don’t.
Among those was Giorgio Chiellini, who, when he was 16, was given the opportunity to swap Livorno for London, but turned it down.
In an interview with So Foot in France, the Juventus star explained his reasoning behind the choice, but does see it as one of the regrets in his long and illustrious career to date.
He said: “Looking back, I tell myself I must have been crazy to not accept that offer (laughs). At the time, I was just a teenager playing for Livorno in Serie C, and I get this offer with wages of around €100k/year, which was huge… But I just didn’t feel ready.
“Plus, I didn’t feel good leaving my club, the one where I’ve grown up, for a fee close to nothing, because Livorno wouldn’t have gotten much from it. By accepting, I would have had the feeling of betraying them”.
Chiellini then goes onto explain that after turning down Arsenal, he received many more similar offers, but disregarded them too.
Even a move to Inter was pushed to one side because he wanted to make sure he continued his studies before making the big leap.
At the end of the day, the defender’s choice to dismiss a move to London didn’t exactly hinder him as the 36-year-old boasts 9 Serie A titles, all won with Juventus since his move there from Fiorentina in 2005.
