REAL MADRID star Federico Valverde revealed he decided to join Arsenal before being turned down by the club. The midfielder has been a key part of Carlo Ancelotti’s side for the past few years, but he could have been playing in the Premier League. He trained with Arsenal ten years ago and felt at home at London Colney.

Valverde, 26, was welcomed by the likes of Emi Martinez and Alexis Sanchez and he claims he saw a future at the club – only to be rejected by the Gunners. He told Marca: “I was 16. I said: ‘That’s it. This is my club. I’m going to grow here. “In Uruguay, the Premier League was watched a lot. I imagined a future there. “I enjoyed it and I trained with spectacular players. “I don’t know if he’ll remember me, but Dibu [Emi Martinez] was one of the ones who helped me the most in everything, along with [Hector] Bellerín, Alexis [Sanches] and [Santi] Cazorla. I didn’t know English and they had to explain all the work to me.”

Valverde was playing for Uruguayn side Penarol at the time and he went on to join Real Madrid two years later. He has 275 appearances for the Spanish giants, scoring 24 times, while winning plenty of silverware. Valverde has three LaLiga titles to his name as well as two Champions League victories. He was also subject to a £51million bid from Liverpool last summer, which was rejected.