Five stars Arsene Wenger has missed out on signing for Arsenal

Arsenal, 33/1 fourth favourites to win the Premier League this season, have missed out on a number of players in recent years, as Arsene Wenger adopted a frugal policy following the move from Highbury to the Emirates.

Coral’s football experts discussed names that could have significantly made a difference to their trophy cabinet, had they been more decisive in their transfer dealings, and here’s who we came up with:

Robert Lewandowski
Wenger has already admitted he inquired too late about the prolific Polish striker’s services. Although rumours linked the Gunners to the ex-Borussia Dortmund frontman on a number of occasions, by the time Arsenal acted, Lewandowski had already agreed to move to Bayern Munich. He would certainly have been a fantastic upgrade on Olivier Giroud.

Cesc Fabregas
Reportedly available for a return to his old club in the summer, Wenger’s response was that he already had Mesut Ozil, who he spent a club transfer record of £42.4m on 12 months earlier. Jose Mourinho snatched the Spanish midfield star from under his nose, paying just £27m for this proven Premier League creative force to bring Fabregas to Chelsea.

Stevan Jovetic
Another player persistently linked with the north London outfit, before Manchester City pounced, on the instruction of then new manager Manuel Pellegrini, paying a fee believed to be in the region of £22m. Although Montenegro attacker Jovetic spent most of last season injured, he has certainly started to prove himself this term.

Xabi Alonso
It seems Wenger didn’t fancy the Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, European Championship and World Cup winner, though he was good enough for Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich. With Arsenal crying out for a defensive midfielder this summer, it appears they missed out on a golden opportunity.

Eden Hazard
The Gunners were said to be one of three clubs, including Manchester United and Manchester City chasing the Belgiun attacker, before Chelsea steamed in out of nowhere to snatch the player from under their noses. His development at the Blues has been quite astonishing, and surely Wenger regrets not acting when he had the opportunity.

Manager Jose Mourinho recently paid tribute to Hazard’s ability, saying: “He’s a fantastic kid. He is humble, very humble. Very nice. Very polite. Selfish – zero. Egocentric – zero. He is fantastic. It seems Arsenal’s loss is certainly, mostly Chelsea and Mourinho’s gain.