Newcastle United attacker Yoan Gouffran has revealed he came close to signing for Arsenal earlier in his career.
Gouffran joined Newcastle in 2013.
"I was excited," he recalled to The Independent. "It was Arsenal. I remember it well. I was a lot younger then, 20 or 21. I didn't know if it would happen.
"My name was mentioned with Arsenal and I was playing for Caen. The discussions were quite lengthy, they were taking a long time, and then it did not happen.
"I was 14 when I joined Caen. My dream was always to be a footballer. It was a really important club for me, they were my first club. They gave me my first start when I was 17 and that was a really big thing for me."
