Theo Walcott expressed his regret that one Chelsea player did not end up signing for Arsenal instead in the summer transfer window.
Arsenal, who won their first league title since 2004 last season, bolstered their squad over the summer with the impressive signings of Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and Christos Tzolis.
However, the Gunners did not have it all their own way in the transfer market, failing to land several top targets in their pursuit of a marquee attacking signing.
The Gunners explored a blockbuster move for Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, who rejected their interest to instead sign a new contract in the Spanish capital.
Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free.
And throughout the window, Arsenal were also keen to sign Julian Alvarez, but the Atletico Madrid striker seemingly had no desire to return to the Premier League.
Arsenal also missed out on Morgan Rogers, a top target early in the window, with Chelsea swooping in to sign the 24-year-old in a huge £117million deal shortly after the World Cup.
Rogers has made a bright start to life at Stamford Bridge, with a goal and an assist in his first two games, and will want to show Arsenal what they missed out on when the two sides meet at the Emirates on Sunday.
And Walcott did not hide the fact that he would have loved to have seen the English midfielder sign for his former side instead this summer.
Building his combined Arsenal and Chelsea XI on TikTok, Walcott had to pick between Tzolis and Rogers, and said: ‘Tzolis, I like him, but it’s Rogers.
Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications.
Walcott is not the only person frustrated by Arsenal’s failure to sign Rogers, with Ian Wright saying he was ‘gutted’ to see the Aston Villa talent sign for Alonso’s Chelsea.
Arsenal v Chelsea Combined XI 🔴🔵 It’s going to be an exciting game! What do you think? #PremierLeague #Arsenal #Chelsea #ArsenalvChelsea
‘I think we did need Rogers,’ Wright told Stick to Football.
‘You say we have got those types of players but that is what Mikel wanted. It is a position where we need that player.
