Gonzalo Higuain has revealed just how close he came to leaving Real Madrid for Arsenal nine years ago in a big-money deal.

The Argentinean goal machine also expressed his surprise that the Gunners went on to sign Mesut Ozil, his then teammate at Los Blancos, for a huge 80m euro fee just days after rejecting Higuain.

He made a considerable impression early in his Madrid career, but after falling behind the immensely talented Karim Benzema in the Real hierarchy, Higuain felt he needed a fresh challenge.

The Argentine opened up about his bemusing interaction with Arsenal in a recent interview, even though he finally left Madrid for Napoli and became a huge success in Serie A.

“Before I went to Napoli there was a chance to sign for Arsenal,” Higuain told Marca.

“We had already spoken but they didn’t buy me; they buy Ozil for 80 million or something like that.

“They told me: ‘We don’t have a lot of money to spend. You’re expensive’. From there I went to Napoli. Two days later I see Ozil signs for 80 million euros.”

I think Ozil was a failure at Arsenal and failed to consistently play to his full potential.

Looking at Ozil’s current club situation, he seems to be somewhat of a waste of talent.

On his day he was absolutely world-class, an incredible talent.