Juventus Star Miralem Pjanic Reveals He Rejected Past Arsenal, Tottenham Moves

Miralem Pjanic's career could have been quite different had he accepted past opportunities from Premier League powers.

Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic has revealed that he rejected opportunities to join both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, meaning his career could have turned out quite differently had accepted one the call from the Premier League.

"You want to know the names? They were Arsenal and Tottenham," Pjanic told the Daily Telegraph when quizzed on past offers from England

The Bosnian international was an emerging star at Lyon when the Gunners made their approach, a rather typical move from Arsene Wenger plucking top young talent from France.

The chance to go to Spurs came slightly later after Pjanic had joined Roma in Italy, with the London club looking for a replacement for Luka Modric following his 2012 exit to Real Madrid.

"There was the opportunity but at that moment I told them I was happy where I was and that's why we didn't sign the deal," Pjanic explained. "But I made my choice using my head and if I made that choice not to go to an English team it was for good reasons."

Having played Champions League football for Lyon, Pjanic flourished in Italy as he reached his mid twenties, finishing as Serie A's top assist provider in both 2014/15 and 2015/16. He also scored 10 Serie A goals in 2015/16 and earned a €32m move to Juventus that summer.

Pjanic played 47 times for Juve in all competitions during his debut season, winning the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia and playing in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.

As the Champions League resumes this week for the start of Last 16 stage, the 27-year-old will face a Spurs team that he might have part of had things worked out differently.