'Didn't make much sense': 'World-class' player says he actually held talks to join Arsenal but then rejected them

Arsenal made some good signings this summer, but not every player they spoke to agreed to join them.

The Gunners turned David Raya’s loan into a permanent deal early in the window and then completed the signings of Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.

Then, on deadline day, Arsenal sealed loan deals to bring in Neto from Bournemouth and Raheem Sterling from Chelsea.

All in all, the Gunners should be happy with their business, but some Arsenal fans may be disappointed to find out that their club failed in their move to sign one player.

Wojciech Szczesny reveals what happened during talks with Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny spent 11 years on Arsenal’s books after joining the club’s academy as a teenager.

The ‘world-class‘ Poland international made it into the first team and even became the number one at the club. He played 181 games for them before leaving on a permanent deal to sign for Juventus.

Szczesny is still adored by fans at Arsenal and many of them would’ve welcomed him back to the club after it was revealed earlier in the window that his time at Juve was up.

Arsenal were even linked with a move to sign Szczesny, and the goalkeeper has now confirmed that he did hold talks with the Premier Lague runners-up.

However, after two days of discussions, Szczesny decided to reject the Gunners and then ended up announcing his retirement.

Speaking to Meczyki, Szczesny said: “I was open to talks with Arsenal because of the respect and sentiment for the club. But when I started talking, I knew it wasn’t for me.

“The Arsenal option came up before the Juventus contract was terminated. I said: “OK, we can talk”. But, two days later, I said it didn’t make much sense.”

Another player rejected Arsenal this summer

Arsenal ended up signing Neto on deadline day, and he is not a bad option at all. But, we’re sure fans would’ve loved to see Szczesny back.

Sadly, he didn’t think it made any sense.

Szczesny isn’t the only player who turned down a move to Arsenal this summer – another player did too earlier in the window.

Arsenal tried to sign Benjamin Sesko but he rejected them, extended his contract and has remained at RB Leipzig for at least one more year.

It will be interesting to see if the Gunners will try to sign him again in 2025.