“we will buy him back”- £50m STAR player who turned down chance of joining Arsenal last season is now REGRETTING that he won’t be able to participate in Champions league next season
Monza defender has revealed that he turned down an opportunity to join Arsenal a few years ago, and he now regrets it.
The now-31-year-old defender was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League a few years ago. He had a brilliant season for Torino in the 2018/19 campaign, and that caught Unai Emery‘s eye at Arsenal.
However, the Italian decided to stay in Turin, and he’s not too happy about it now.
Armando Izzo says he rejected Arsenal in 2019
Back in the summer before the start of the 2019/20 season, right after Arsenal lost the final of the Europa League, Emery decided he wanted a new central defender.
The Gunners were linked with plenty of names, including Izzo, but it was David Luiz who came in from Chelsea on transfer deadline day, along with Kieran Tierney from Celtic.
Despite a few bumps here and there, that worked out for Arsenal, but Izzo, who says he turned down an opportunity to join Arsenal to stay in Torino for another year, seems disappointed.
The Italian said, as per Sport Italia: “The year I renewed with Turin, after hitting Europe my former prosecutor and President Cairo told me that there were Arsenal and Conte’s Inter.
“I felt something for Toro, I believed in the project and I stayed another year. I scored six goals that year and didn’t see any teams. And I was wondering: ‘how is it possible that there is no team?
“Then after two years Bremer (who played next to Izzo in Torino), with four goals and finishing 10th, goes to Juventus. My dream was to go to Inter, but I never succeeded.”
Our View:
Izzo really missed his opportunity three years ago.
The Italian is still owned by Torino but is currently on loan at Monza. He plays in defence alongside Arsenal loanee Pablo Mari, and both players have had a fine campaign so far.
Now 31, Izzo’s dreams of getting himself a big move to a Champions League club are extremely slim. Arsenal definitely don’t need him.
Monza, who look set to stay in the Serie A this season, could well sign him permanently this summer, just like they will complete the signing of Mari from Arsenal.
