The old Darren Purse saga/sagas springs to mind........lost count of the number of times we were supposedly close to signing him, spanning several years in fact, so much so, that it became an amusing standing joke here on CL......... for those of us who can remember. At times it felt like he was actually a squad member!
Will be interesting to see if this Arsenal U23 goes on to make it
Premier League giants Arsenal snatched the highly-rated Nigerian youngster Joseph Olowu from under the noses of Charlton Athletic.
It has come to light that the central defender was poached by the Gunners after starring in a test game, while undergoing trials with the Addicks, and he has not regretted his decision to join the Emirates outfit.
“I was 13 years of age when I was spotted by Arsenal and I was actually playing for Charlton Athletic on a trial with them in a game against the Gunners,” Olowu told arsenal.com.
“Later that night the scout who actually took me to Charlton called and told my parents that Arsenal had invited me on a six-week trial with them. ”
The 16-year-old added : “I was playing as a defensive central midfielder but straight away I was asked to play centre back by the coaches at Hale End.
“I was an Arsenal fan but was quite relaxed because I did not raise my hopes too high.”
Born in the United Kingdom to Nigerian parents, Olowu is eligible to represent Nigeria and England but has not been capped by the two nations.
He made his debut for Arsenal U23s in their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth in a pre-season fixture in July 2016.
He was having a trial with us and got signed by Arsenal.
It's difficult for us to compete with a large Premiership club.
All we can do is say sign for us aand if you're good enough to play in the first team then we will sell you at the earliest opportunity for a paltry fee.
I remember reading an article linking us with Drogba when he was at Marseille. He went in the score a few for them in Champions League rat season which put him out of our reach.
Weren't we trying to sign Eidur Gudjohnsen (sp?) and Cluas Jensen in a double deal but ended up with just Clause because Chelsea came in and bid for EG what we were bidding for the pair?
Harry Arter released too early.
Think Rio Ferdinand was supposed to have had trials with us as a kid.
Comments
At times it felt like he was actually a squad member!
It's difficult for us to compete with a large Premiership club.
All we can do is say sign for us aand if you're good enough to play in the first team then we will sell you at the earliest opportunity for a paltry fee.
Also lost Kasey Palmer to Chelsea and he looks a very tidy player.
But more importantly, we had Shola Ameobi on trial and didn't offer him a contract. I feel like he would have fit in really well here...
http://www.themag.co.uk/2015/10/shola-ameobi-knocked-back-by-fifth-club-after-a-trial-london-this-time/
Bolasie I think we were looking at him when he was at Plymouth but signed for Brizzle instead.
Weren't we linked to Smalling when he was at Maidstone?
Weren't we trying to sign Eidur Gudjohnsen (sp?) and Cluas Jensen in a double deal but ended up with just Clause because Chelsea came in and bid for EG what we were bidding for the pair?
Harry Arter released too early.
Think Rio Ferdinand was supposed to have had trials with us as a kid.