Report: Arsenal rejected the chance to sign attacker who's almost as fast as Kylian Mbappe this summer

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Arsenal made a dramatic late attacking signing in the summer transfer window in the shape of Raheem Sterling.

Sterling joined Arsenal on deadline day at the eleventh hour to add the finishing touch to Mikel Arteta's squad.

In doing so, the England international became the third ex-Manchester City player in this Arsenal team alongside Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus.

However, Arsenal almost signed another former City star towards the end of the transfer window.

Indeed, according to Football Transfers, the Gunners actually turned down the chance to sign Ferran Torres towards the end of the transfer window.

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Arsenal rejected Ferran Torres

According to this report, Arsenal turned rejected the chance to sign Torres this summer.

Barcelona apparently offered the Gunners the opportunity to sign the winger, but Mikel Arteta turned down the offer.

There are currently no plans for Arsenal to revisit this move for Torres.

There's reason to believe that the Spaniard would've been a fantastic addition to this Arsenal team.

Torres was the second-fastest player at Euro 2024, just behind Kylian Mbappe, and he'd have fit Mikel Arteta's system brilliantly having been schooled by Arteta's mentor, Pep Guardiola.

What Pep Guardiola has said about Ferran Torres

Arsenal ultimately went for Sterling rather than Torres, but perhaps this was the wrong call.

Torres is a fantastic player, and he's even been called 'exceptional' by Guardiola in the past.

"This evening he was important, but not just this evening," Guardiola said after Torres scored a hat-trick against Newcastle.

"This is his first season in England and his numbers are exceptional in terms of goals.

"He came as a winger and I may have to think about playing him as a striker. When we had Sergio and Garbiel [Jesus] injured, he played as a striker and was always there."

Arsenal do need extra depth in the striking department too, and Torres could've been the type of signing that killed two birds with one stone.

Raheem Sterling hasn't quite got going yet at Arsenal, and if he doesn't find his best form soon, Gunners fans may begin to wonder why Torres wasn't signed instead.

Interestingly, Torres has been a regular for Barcelona so far this season, playing in all eight of Hansi Flick's side's games so far this season, so perhaps Arsenal's decision to reject the attacker was a blessing in disguise for the Catalan outfit.