Brazil penalty shootout hero Julio Cesar could so easily have been an Arsenal player last season.
Cesar, 34, was desperate to quit QPR after they were relegated from the Premier League, says the Daily Star Sunday.
He was also a target for Napoli but his £90,000-a-week wages proved a major stumbling block and instead they moved for Liverpool's Pepe Reina.
Cesar yesterday saved two penalties against Chile to help Brazil into the World Cup quarter-finals.
Cesar's agent Josias Cardoso said last year: "Arsenal remain a concrete option. In Italy recently I have only spoken to Napoli. President Aurelio De Laurentiis wanted him but didn't want to pay Julio's current wages.
"He is one of the best keepers in the world and after a great Confederations Cup he showed his desire to come back to Italy by demanding nothing more.
"It would have been normal for someone in his position to ask for a pay rise but he didn't."
