Dimitri Payet Joins List of Star Players Arsene Wenger Could Have Signed

Arsene Wenger's press conference on Thursday saw Dimitri Payet added to the collection of players the Arsenal manager has noticed, admired and declined to sign.

Speaking ahead of the Gunners' trip to West Ham United on Saturday, Wenger said of Payet: "I have known him for a long time. I think he has always had top talent."

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The boss on Payet: "I have known him for a long time. I think he has always had top talent." https://t.co/fh4FyeG5tv

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 7, 2016"

When asked why he didn't sign him, Wenger responded: "We had this kind of player, we had no need. Historically we've always had a great number of creative players, we had [Mesut] Ozil, [Santi] Cazorla, [Jack] Wilshere, [Aaron] Ramsey, all offensive players."

It's not the first time Wenger has suggested Arsenal have either missed or declined to sign another team's star player, with Payet joining a long list of names that includes Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, per the Guardian and the Telegraph.  

Yet again, Arsenal fans will be left wondering what would've happened had Wenger acted on his supposed knack for talent-spotting and signed up some of the players they have been linked with in the past.

And what if, say, the Arsenal team that could have been were to play the Gunners side that started Saturday's 4-0 win over Watford? It would look something like this:

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I think I know which team I'd back in that one.

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