Arsenal and Chelsea once had the chance to sign one of Europe’s most exciting young players, but a move for either failed to materialise
Arsenal and Chelsea have been told exactly why they should have signed Jeremy Doku when they had the chance. The 21-year-old winger, who is reportedly set to join Manchester City from Rennes this summer for around £55million, was once heavily linked with a move to both the Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge – but a transfer collapsed.
In an interview with Ouest-France, as quoted by the Mirror, Doku recalled the time when Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea were all chasing his signature ahead of his 16th birthday. The Belgium international said: “My 16th birthday was coming up, the age you can sign a pro contract
A lot of teams came to see me – Liverpool was the most concrete interest but there was also Arsenal and Chelsea. I went with my Mum and Dad, and we were given a tour of the stadium (Anfield), the [Liverpool] training ground, even the school I would go to.
“They gave me a signed [Mohamed] Salah shirt, and I met the players,” added Doku. “I was able to discuss with Jurgen [Klopp], [Steven] Gerrard too, we looked at some video moments, and he spoke about the development.
We met players, [Simon] Mignolet because he was Belgian, [Gini] Wijnaldum from Netherlands. I talked a lot with [Sadio] Mane but we didn’t really talk about football. We talked about everything. He told me that I was young, that I still had time…
“He wasn’t trying to convince me or to say to me ‘come here, you will succeed’. So I preferred to be careful. I knew what my trajectory had to be. I knew what route I needed to take and I knew at that moment I needed to stay at Anderlecht.”
We met players, [Simon] Mignolet because he was Belgian, [Gini] Wijnaldum from Netherlands. I talked a lot with [Sadio] Mane but we didn’t really talk about football. We talked about everything. He told me that I was young, that I still had time…
“He wasn’t trying to convince me or to say to me ‘come here, you will succeed’. So I preferred to be careful. I knew what my trajectory had to be. I knew what route I needed to take and I knew at that moment I needed to stay at Anderlecht.”
After Mane urged Doku to delay a move to the Premier League, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all missed out on the youngster’s signature. Fast-forward five years and the youngster, who has since been compared to Eden Hazard, looks set to join Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
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