Arsenal rejected N’Golo Kante transfer to sign Granit Xhaka instead after ‘row over agent fees’
ARSENAL reportedly missed the chance to sign N’Golo Kante due to a row over agent fees.
Instead, they got Granit Xhaka.
ARSENAL NEWS LIVE: Follow for the latest Gunners news
According to The Athletic, the Gunners were primed to sign current Chelsea star Kante in 2016 when he was at Leicester.
Fresh from the Foxes’ historic Premier League triumph the midfielder had the pick of all the top clubs battling it out for his signature.
Kante, now 29, ultimately moved to Stamford Bridge for a snip at £32million.
And the midfielder has since won another Prem title, and FA Cup and a Europa League crown with Chelsea, as well as the 2018 World Cup with France.
But it could have been a very different outcome but for an agent-related bust up.
It is reported that Arsenal backed out of a potential deal for Kante as they were unwilling to stump up what they deemed as excessive cash to pay for the services of associated intermediaries.
Instead the North London side forked out £35m to lure Swiss hardman Xhaka away from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Xhaka went on to skipper the Gunners, but has been a controversial figure with fans and was stripped of the captaincy and almost hounded out of the club after a high-profile row with supporters last year.
Ex-Arsenal transfer deal broker Dick Law told The Athletic: “When things reached an extreme, we tended to back away.”
CHELSEA NEWS LIVE: Follow for the latest Blues news
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
Courtesy of a Football Leaks report it was revealed the two agents involved in Kante’s move pocketed an eye-watering £10.6m between them.
Kante was just one of a number of near misses for legendary Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who could have signed Jamie Vardy, Gareth Bale and Yaya Toure to name a few of the stars that slipped through his grip.
The former Gunners manager could have compiled an extraordinary array of talent on the field if he had been able to get a number of close deals over the line.