Arsenal may miss out on Carlos Vela as Mexican pulls a u-turn on move

Carlos Vela of Real Sociedad celebrates after scoring during the La Liga match between Real Sociedad and Celta de Vigo at Estadio Anoeta

Arsenal are set to miss out on Mexican striker Carlos Vela, despite coming so close to signing the forward just hours earlier.

Real Sociedad’s president, Jokin Aperribay, today confirmed that Vela was set to return to Arsenal after the Gunners activated a clause in his contract.

Vela left Arsenal for Real Sociedad on loan in 2011 and after a successful season in Spain he joined permanently. However, Vela had a clause roughly in the region of £3.5 million which allowed Arsene Wenger’s side to sign up the forward again, something the Frenchman opted for.

However, in a remarkable turn of events, Sociedad’s president has now confirmed that Vela intends to stay at the Spanish side and does not want to leave for north London, with the news pleasing Aperribay.

Aperribay told reporters: “We are fortunate that the player is keen to stay in San Sebastian with us and that’s an important factor for Real Sociedad.”

Vela has been heavily linked with a move to fellow Spanish side Atletico Madrid and he is said to prefer a switch to the Vicente Calderon, rather than a move back to the Emirates.