Arsenal missed out on the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo before he became a global superstar.
Former Gunners scout Damien Comolli has revealed that Ronaldo was flagged to Arsene Wenger before he signed for Manchester United.
Comolli was one of the key men behind Wenger's development of the Arsenal team that was dominant in the early nighties.
But they missed out on the signing of Ronaldo - despite inviting him down to the club's training ground on two different occasions.
According to Comolli, he was even introduced to his idol, Thierry Henry, in a bid to try and lure him to Arsenal.
“He played against Japan before and I thought: ‘Who the hell is this?’
“At half-time, I called my contact in Portugal to which I said that I had seen a phenomenon.
“Since Thierry Henry, I’ve never seen that.
“He came twice to the training centre. Nobody knows that. He met Thierry, who was his idol.
"But when it came to making the transfer, there was no money.
"Some months later, Manchester United made a partnership with Sporting, they played a friendly match in Lisbon.
"Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘He must go to United’."
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