The untold story of how Senderos rejected Manchester United and Liverpool to join Arsenal

Philippe Senderos has revealed how he rejected a move to Manchester United and Liverpool before deciding to join Arsenal in 2003.

The retired Swiss international began his career in Servette where he caught the attention of European giants Manchester United, Liverpool Bayern Munich and Arsenal.

He signed for the Gunners in December 2002 but stayed with Servette before moving permanently to North London the following summer.

In his first campaign, the 2003/2004 season, Arsenal won the Premier League unbeaten but Senderos couldn’t play any role as he struggled with injuries throughout the season.

He didn’t make his debut till the 2004/2005 season when he featured in a League Cup game against Manchester City and made 23 appearances across all competitions that term.

Senderos’ game time kept reducing as each season passed and it was no surprise that he left on loan for AC Milan in the summer of 2008.

His situation didn’t get any better with the Rossoneri as he made just seven starts in the Serie A and made 20 appearances across all competitions.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t have a look-in on his return to Arsenal and went on another loan term to Everton in January 2010 before leaving permanently for Fulham that summer.

Speaking to Ladbrokes Fanzone via talkSport, Senderos reveals how he had visited Manchester United, Liverpool and Bayern Munich before joining Arsenal.

“I’d been in Germany to visit Bayern Munich’s training ground with my family on a couple of occasions, but really I was just waiting for the English clubs to call, because I really wanted to play in the Premier League.

“I visited Manchester United, and Liverpool came to Geneva a couple of times.”

“But when the opportunity to go to Arsenal came along, and I visited the training ground, experienced the atmosphere around the place and heard from Arsene Wenger, there was no looking back for me.

“Everything about Arsenal just felt right for me, so it was an easy decision, despite all the noise and rumours.”

The retired Swiss defender went on to play for Fulham, Valencia, Aston Villa, Grasshoppers, Rangers, Houston Dynamo and Chiasso before calling it quits on his career in 2019.