The Arsenal Invincibles achieved arguably the biggest feat in Premier League history by going a whole season unbeaten, and they were the envy of the land.
The likes of Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry tore the Premier League apart with 26 wins, 12 draws and zero losses in the 2003-04 season, but they could have been joined in the squad by a player who appeared in the PFA Team of the Season on three occasions.
In 1999, English midfielder Kieron Dyer was the subject of interest from several clubs after breaking through at Ipswich Town, before he completed a big move to Newcastle United.
Dyer would become a success, as well as a controversial figure at Newcastle, but he has now admitted that if circumstances were different, he could have joined Arsenal.
Kieron Dyer could have joined Arsenal instead of Newcastle
Speaking to talkSPORT, Dyer revealed that at the time of his move to Newcastle, Arsenal and Leeds had expressed their interest in him, but he had jumped the gun and already made the move up North.
“I remember coming back from pre-season and [Ipswich manager] George Burley pulls me into the office and says ‘we haven’t received any offers that we want to accept so if you start the season with us you have to get your head down’. I said ‘yeah, of course’,” he stated of the circumstances over his Ipswich exit.
“Then we finished training and someone said ‘the gaffer wants to see you in his office’ and I go there and he says ‘we’ve just accepted an offer for six and a half million, so you need to go now’.
“I had to drive to Stansted airport and meet my agent before flying to Newcastle, but if I’d have been a bit more wise I probably wouldn’t have ended up in Newcastle.
“At the time, Arsenal wanted me with Arsene Wenger, I spoke to David O’Leary and Leeds on the phone, I spoke to Harry Redknapp who was manager of West Ham at the time.”
“If I’d have known what I know now, I’d have said ‘I want to wait a bit’ and seen if Arsenal or Leeds would have increased their bid because I had the chance to be a part of the Invincibles squad.”
Could Kieron Dyer have succeeded at Arsenal?
Arsenal had one of the most talented squads in the country when they registered their interest in Dyer, and it is perhaps easy to see why they were keen on the then-prodigy.
Emmanuel Petit was coming to the end of his Arsenal career, and left one year after Dyer moved to Newcastle.
Gilberto Silva would eventually join and become a legend, but given his talent – Dyer did perform well for Newcastle – he could have still been a success within the squad.
Incidents followed him around at Newcastle, but perhaps the guidance of Arsene Wenger could have seen him thrive, and he would have certainly ended his career with silverware, but many would point out that Wenger’s attacking style of football with technically gifted players was unsuited to Dyer’s style and he was a level below the likes of Gilberto and Vieira.
Some may argue that Arsenal dodged a bullet given what they achieved, but Dennis Bergkamp did recently highlight how a strong defensive unit led to success with the Gunners, and perhaps Dyer could have eased the transition period after Patrick Vieira left.
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