Vicente Guaita has opened up about his failure to secure a move to Arsenal earlier in his career.
Celta Vigo released the 38-year-old at the end of last season and he’s still without a club.
The Spaniard has been speaking to Listen 2 Inspire podcast and talked about Arsenal. Super Deporte have relayed his comments.
Guaita came up through the ranks of Valencia’s youth system and played six years with their first team between 2008 and 2014. He earlier had opportunities to change clubs, but Los Ches convinced him to stay.
During the 2012/13 season with Los Ches, the goalkeeper kept eight clean sheets and conceded 26 goals from 24 matches. This attracted Arsenal’s attention in 2013, who had then made concrete advances to secure his services.
Guaita has pinned the blame on UD Ibiza president Amadeo Salvo, who was then the president at Valencia, for killing his move to Arsenal.
“I had the opportunity to leave, it was practically a done deal, but Salvo was asking for a lot more money and the whole deal fell through,” he said.
Arsène Wenger was then in charge at the Emirates. The Gunners finished that window by signing Emiliano Viviano on loan from Palermo.
Guaita left Valencia for Getafe in 2014, and four years later he moved to London to join Crystal Palace.
