Wenger almost signed Di Maria

Wenger – We could’ve signed Di Maria at 17

Arsenal boss has blasted British work permit norms for non-EU players. Wenger admitted that he could’ve signed Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria at 17 when he was in Argentina.

"We wanted him to come here," Wenger said.

The Frenchman went on to add that if not for work permit issues he would’ve got the British record signing for peanuts.

"We had identified Di Maria when he was 17 in an international competition.

"But he went to Portugal, and from Portugal he went to Spain. Why? Because he could not get a work permit for England, so that meant you could only get him to England once he was worth a huge amount of money."

Currently, the work permit requirement for non-EU passport holders is that they have to be an international from a country ranked within Fifa's top 70 and have played 75 per cent of their country's international matches in the last two years.

Arsenal are in tow to sign Brazilian defender Gabriel Paulista but his transfer is being held up due to work permit issues. The north London boys don’t want to miss another splendid talent due to permit issues.

Wenger suggested that there should be relaxation in the work permit norms in England if they want to help local English players to develop.

He added: "Ideally it would open completely, and anyone could come in."

"You could close completely the borders of the country and play only with English players. What will that do? That will kill the attractiveness of the Premier League worldwide.

"The second option is to say 'look we have the best league in the world, so let's produce the best players in the world'.

"One thing is for sure, if you put a young player with top-level players, he has more chance to develop. If you put him with average players he has more chance to remain average."