AS Saint-Etienne’s Loic Perrin has admitted that he almost joined Arsenal in the winter transfer window but the move never happened as the Gunners ended up signing Brazilian defender Paulista and 17 year old Polish defensive midfielder Krystian Beilik from Warsaw. Perrin was in Arsenal’s radar after some impressive performances in the Ligue 1. He was heavily linked with the Gunners in the winter transfer window, talksport.com reported.
Loic Perrin said,
“A transfer in this window, it is difficult. But it is difficult to refuse Arsenal. I have always said that if I have to leave St Étienne, one day, it would be for a bigger club, a club that plays regular Champions League football.”
He also said that playing for a club like Arsenal is a big thing for the players who are playing in Ligue 1 and none of those players will refuse to play for the Gunners. Arsenal has a history of signing some relatively unknown French players and mould them into World Class Players
The list includes the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vierra, Robert Pires, William Gallas etc. Currently, the arrival of another Frenchman Coquelin, who was on loan at Charlton has solved Arsenal’s defensive midfield woes as the likes of Mikael Arteta, Mathieu Flamini are not upto the mark. Arsenal are currently fifth in the table and are in the race for a top-4 spot and face a fierce competition with Manchester United, Southampton and Tottenham in the race to qualify for the champions league.