Wenger has admitted that the club were close to signing the Ivorian.
All the success Yaya Toure has had at Manchester City must frustrate Arsene Wenger, as Arsenal nearly signed the midfielder back in 2004.
Before the Ivory Coast international had made a name for himself at Barcelona the Gunners were on the verge of completing a deal for Toure for a very minimal transfer fee.
In the end the 30-year-old moved from Belgian side Beveren to Metalurg Donetsk in Ukraine and Wenger has said it wasn’t because of mistakes from north London.
“It would be up at the top but let’s not forget that Yaya Toure had an agreement with us and it’s not because we did not want to sign him that he went to Ukraine,” the 64-year-old was quoted by the Mirror.
“We needed to wait for his passport in Belgium. We have made mistakes but he is not a mistake, it’s just the fact that preferred to go go Metalurh Donetsk. It was there he could go without any passport.”
Toure really made a name for himself as a world-class star whilst at the Nou Camp between 2007 and 2010, winning two La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, before a £24m switch to the Etihad Stadium.
Since then the midfielder has improved in stature and scored the winning goal for the Citizens in the 2011 FA Cup final and was instrumental in their first ever Premier League title success in 2012.
This year Toure has scored an impressive 17 goals as City look to lift the league crown once again and is considered to be one of the best players in the whole of English football.
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