Arsène Wenger spoke about why Arsenal missed out on signing Yaya Toure after having him on trial in 2003.
Toure will visit the Emirates on Saturday with Manchester City.
“It would be up at the top [of my list of regrets],” Wenger said. “But let's not forget that Yaya Toure had an agreement with us - and it's not because we did not want to sign him that he went to Ukraine.
“We needed to wait for his passport in Belgium. We have made mistakes but he is not a mistake, it's just the fact that he preferred to go to Metalurh Donetsk. He could go there without any passport.”
Toure has scored 21 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions this season.
