Arriving from Paradou AC in Algeria in the summer for £1.7m after a season on loan at Montpellier, Rennes centre-back Ramy Bensebaini also had the opportunity to sign for Arsenal.
The 21-year-old was handed a one month trial at the Emirates by his club, as the player tried to breakthrough in Europe, but unfortunately, much to Arsène Wenger’s annoyance, a transfer to the Gunners never materialised.
He said: “I still have photos of it. It must have been in 2012. Jean-Marc Guillou spoke to Arsène Wenger. I left for London, training with Koscielny, Giroud, Mertesacker, Wilshere for a month. I got on really well with Sagna and Chamakh. At the end of the trial, Wenger told me he wanted to keep me.
“Five out of the six managers at the club were convinced I should stay, but I couldn’t because I didn’t have a European passport. That’s how it is. It was a great experience. Trial wise, I’d also gone to Porto and Nice, where I quickly got injured. That’s when I went to Belgium, and everything started.”
Spending a season with Lierse in the Jupiler Pro League, the player was quickly noticed by French scouts, which led to his loan with Montpellier last season. Clearly impressing with the Ligue 1 side, Rennes decided to get him to move permanently to France, where he signed a four year deal.
Used both at centre-back and left-back, the 21-year-old has made 21 appearances in all competitions this season.
