Arsenal have long had an eye for top talents from unlikely sources, and this has often meant bringing players in on trial before committing to signing them permanently.
You’ll probably know about a couple of higher-profile cases, not least Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s reported rejection, but some of those who were invited for a trial actually earned a contract off the back of it.
Here’s a selection of those who were given a chance to strut their stuff in front of the Gunners’ top brass – some who succeeded and some who weren’t so fortunate.
Yaya Toure
Let’s start with the one you’re likely to know the most about. Toure was given a chance to impress in a pre-season meeting with Barnet, but simply didn’t do enough.
The Ivorian played in an advanced role for part of the game, but failed to make an impact – he certainly did nothing to suggest he’d become one of the best Premier League midfielders of all time.
There was no sign of his future greatness when Metallurg Donetsk moved for him that summer, but no one who watched him at Manchester City would have been able to recognise the youngster who struggled against the Bees.
READ: The story of Yaya Toure’s ‘completely average’ Arsenal trial against Barnet
Kolo Toure
Yaya wasn’t the first of the Toure brothers to rock up at Highbury, and Kolo certainly made more of an impact – in every sense of the word.
“I remember the ball was rolled into Thierry Henry, and Kolo Toure, from nowhere, smashed into him from behind,” Ray Parlour later revealed.
“It was a terrible tackle, could have been a red card in a normal game, and our best player was on the floor rolling around.”
The defender would also take out Dennis Bergkamp and, confusingly, Arsene Wenger in the same session. Apparently that’s the right thing to do, though, as he went on to play more than 300 games in an Arsenal shirt.
On Kolo Toure’s birthday, a reminder of his first day on trial at Arsenal, as witnessed by Ray Parlour.
Sensational.pic.twitter.com/z7lWHgs9z8
— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) March 19, 2019
Matteo Guardalben
Back in the summer of 2003, Arsenal had bigger problems than any which might be solved by Yaya Toure’s presence in pre-season.
David Seaman had left for Manchester City, and no replacement had been found for the veteran. Stuart Taylor was still on the books, but Wenger clearly wanted someone more experienced and therefore Guardalben – Gigi Buffon’s former backup at Parma – was…
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