Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has claimed that he was close to signing Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale when the player was at Southampton.
The 22-year-old moved to White Hart Lane in 2007 for around £5m.
However, Wenger told reporters that he instead chose to sign Bale's Southampton teammate Theo Walcott for around £12m.
When asked if he nearly signed Bale, the Gunners boss said: "Yes, but we had full-backs at the time. We had [Gael] Clichy, we had [Ashley] Cole.
"We were more on Walcott. Walcott was a lot of money."
Arsenal host Spurs in the Premier League on Sunday.
