Arsenal Transfer History: 5 Stars Who Nearly Joined the Gunners

I've never been much of a "what if" kind of guy.

At least, that's what I tell people. It makes me sound really cool, like toughness and resilience are my two finest attributes a la Robert De Niro in the movie Heat. When you're walking out on anything you're attached to in 30 seconds flat, it doesn't leave much time for self-examination, after all.

Totally kidding. I mire myself in the past, and one of the most entertaining ways to push through boring moments during the day is to play the "lost transfer" game.

For example: How different would Arsenal's current squad look if some transfers, which were reportedly in the making—some which came precipitously close to fruition—had been successful? It would be a much different-looking side..

Here's a look at the five that I remember best.

Xabi Alonso

The man looks like a diplomat from bygone ages, but I've always had a considerable amount of respect for Xabi Alonso as a player.

I could never outwardly support him, seeing as how he's plied his trade for Liverpool and current club Real Madrid (a team I simply cannot abide), but I can't help but acknowledge his considerable prowess as a footballer.

There are few players more accurate with their long distribution.

Alonso dispatches searching floaters across the pitch with the precision of a pointillist, allowing the players on the receiving end to control inch-perfect deliveries.

There's little question why he's been a mainstay in La Furia Roja for years now, able to integrate himself with a national side made up mostly of Barcelona players. Like David Silva of Manchester City, Alonso has the versatility to play with them.

He certainly caught Arsene Wenger's eye during his time with Liverpool, so much so that the French manager made a concerted effort to bring him in to Ashburton Grove in the summer of 2008, likely with the intention of establishing a long-standing Spanish central midfield partnership with Cesc Fabregas.

As is so often the case, then-Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's asking price of £18 million soured the deal, and Wenger was forced to look elsewhere in his search for a replacement for Mathieu Flamini, who had departed the Emirates for AC Milan on a Bosman transfer earlier that summer.

Would Arsenal have been better off with Alonso within the side? Undoubtedly so, especially in the past seasons, where Alex Song was still coming into his own as a player.

Perhaps Song's maturation would have been deterred had the former Real Sociedad man (he joined Liverpool on a £10.5 million transfer in '04) come to Arsenal.

But what a midfield framework that could have been—Alonso distributing with aplomb while Cesc was allowed free reign to attack.

Perhaps Cesc would not have suffered that season-ending injury at the hands of—Alonso—in December of '08, either.

Pepe Reina

The Liverpool shot-stopper revealed in his 2011 biography that he nearly joined Arsenal in the summer of 2010 for a fee presumed to be in the ballpark of £20 million, only to have it scuppered by Liverpool's then-ownership team of Tom Gillett and George Hicks.

Reina accused the two men of nixing the move in order to keep the team looking more attractive for potential investors as they looked to sell their stakes.

It would have been the perfect time for Arsenal to welcome a top-class keeper into the fold, as the 2009-10 season had seen the Gunners go through some harrowing mistakes between the sticks—Lukasz Fabianski the obvious culprit for his gaffes against FC Porto in the Champions League and his end-of-season form in league.

Again, though, the silver lining emanates. Had Reina joined the club, current Arsenal No. 1 Wojciech Szczesny likely would have left it in the pursuit of consistent first-team football.

Would Reina be a better option than Szczesny? I don't think so. Still, an intriguing bit of business.

Gary Cahill

The defender who launched a war of words between Wenger and Bolton boss Owen Coyle this past August, Gary Cahill was tipped to join Arsenal for what seemed an interminable period.

Coyle took exception to what he perceived to be Arsenal's excessive tampering of Cahill last summer, and then was offended by the transfer fee tabled by Wenger, which the former Burnley boss said was £6 million—far below what he wanted for his star.

Cahill, who joined Chelsea during the January transfer window on a £7 million transfer (hmm...) was out of contract this summer and had a buy-out clause of £17 million.

Whatever turned Wenger off the chase—the inflated price tag or a feeling that he had adequate cover in defense—most Arsenal fans would likely agree that Cahill would have been a welcome addition for a side that has struggled mightily with injuries in defense this season.

Cahill's the sort of quick, rangy defender who could thrive within Arsenal's high-pressing system—that's presumably the reason Wenger was initially looking to buy him—and would have been an excellent choice alongside Laurent Koscielny.

Either way, what's done is done, and Arsenal have to look forward to playing against Cahill this spring. The England international will simply be sporting another shade of blue.

Petr Cech

Nevermind that the Soccernet headline from last March reads like a high school girl spurned for the senior prom—the entire article seems based on speculation and rumor.

For Cech to say, "...at the last minute I think the person who was the chief scout at Arsenal didn't think I was good enough for the English league. So in the end [the move] didn't happen" makes the entire story seem rather shoddy: how did Cech know what the scout was thinking?

The Czech international, who then was on the books at Sparta Prague, was being tracked by Arsenal scouts but did not qualify for a work permit.

With the Arsenal option out the window, he headed to Stade Rennais of France's Ligue 1, where he would spend two seasons (2002-2004) before packing his bags for west London and Chelsea FC, following his £7-million transfer. He's been with the Blues ever since.

His entry into Arsenal, which apparently would have come in 2002, would have preceded Jens Lehmann's by one year (Lehmann joined ahead of the 2003-04 season.)

Perhaps a different keeper would have been manning the posts for the Invincibles. Then again, perhaps it was Lehmann's experience that proved the difference for that historic side. It might never have come off otherwise.

You just never know.

Yaya Toure

By all accounts, Arsenal could have had both Toure brothers on the books for a time, at least.

Instead, Yaya Toure, currently considered one of—if not the best—holding defensive midfielders in world football, plays for nouveau-(oil)-riche Manchester City, where he has helped provided the midfield foundation for the Citizens' excellent season, which currently sees them at the top of the Premier League standings.

Toure, the younger brother of former Arsenal defender Kolo (both are now with City,) was on trial with Arsenal in the late 1990s but could not obtain a work permit and returned to Belgian club Beveren.

"I know [Yaya] very well, since he was 15 years old, so I know him for a long time. He is a top-class talent," Wenger told Chris Harris of Arsenal.com.

"He was here as a young boy but we cannot get players in here if they are not internationals (Toure is Ivorian.) He had no work permit and was too young. We tried to wait until when he was in Belgium, we tried to get him a European passport."

That plan would fall through, as Toure opted instead to sign for Ukrainian club Metalurh Donetsk.

Toure, who's currently playing in the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast, would eventually make his way to Barcelona, where he played a huge role for the Blaugrana, who nabbed six trophies that year.

By the end of the 2009-10 season, however, he had been supplanted by Sergio Busquets in midfield and headed for England.

He has been linked to Arsenal in the past, and some outlets said he chose Manchester City over Arsenal in the summer of 2010.