Another day another failure for Arsene Wenger to sign a top player. Time and again we have heard that the Arsenal manager was agonisingly close to signing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo but for one reason or another the signings never materialised. And the latest name in this long list is Chelsea striker Diego Costa.

The French tactician revealed that he was surprised to see the Spain international leaving Atletico Madrid for Chelsea and regretted not signing him for the Gunners.

“I never thought he would leave Atletico Madrid at the time, I was surprised,” Wenger said.

“Would I have made a harder play for him had I known? Yes. I like him, as a quality striker.”

His team will play Chelsea on Saturday and Wenger has advised his defenders to keep a calm head when dealing with Costa. Arsenal defenders Gabriel and Per Mertesacker received red cards after being involved in an altercation with the hot-headed striker last season.

However, the 66-year old showed his admiration for Costa’s commitment.
“You want full commitment from every single player,” he said.

“But commitment is different from this kind of over-reactions. He is a fighter and you respect that. The rest is down to the referees to get the game and the rules respected.

Wenger also compared the strike with Chelsea great Didier Drogba.

“He is similar to [Didier] Drogba because he’s a top-quality player.