In his latest book Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that Wenger had a chance to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy, but turned it down as he didnt believe he was good enough to play for Arsenal. "Arsene had a thing about Van Nistelrooy. I remember him saying he'd had a chance to sign Ruud but had decided he was not good enough to play for Arsenal. I agreed with him in the sense that Van Nistelrooy may not have been a great footballer. But he was a great goal-scorer, wrote Sir Alex in his autobiography. It was in 2001 that Wenger was looking at the then PSV striker, although Manchester United were leading the race after almost sealing the deal a year before, until medical reasons saw it breakdown. Instead of singing van Nistelrooy, Arsenal signed Francis Jeffers. The clubs so called fox in the box. Jeffers went on to struggle for the Gunners, leaving the club after only three years in London, with the last of those spent on loan at Everton. Van Nistelroory, in contrast, would go on to thrive at United and Real Madrid.
Simon is an NCTJ qualified sports journalist. He has conducted interviews with Tony Adams and Peter Shilton, while also having work published in The Daily Telegraph and The Sun. Follow him on Twitter via @sr_collings.
