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Chris Byfield
Pele once revealed that the Premier League club he would most like to play for was Arsenal.
Yesterday, it was announced that football icon Pele, who was named FIFA’s player of the century in 2000, had died at the age of 82.
The Brazilian is arguably the greatest footballer of all time, having scored an unrivalled 1,281 goals in 1,363 appearances and won the World Cup a record three times, in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
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Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, has declared three days of national mourning for the sporting legend.
Pele famously never played in Europe, instead plying his trade for his beloved Santos, of Sao Paulo. There, the Brazilian won a number of state and national championships as well as the Copa Libertadores twice.
Pele never played in England, though did receive interest from Sir Matt Busby’s Manchester United in 1968, the year the club won the European Cup.
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However, in 2015 that star revealed that Arsenal were his favourite English team, because of their style of football.
The Brazil legend added that Barcelona's playing style is closest to Santos’, who the icon represented between 1956 and 1974.
Pele told the Telegraph in 2015, via the Mirror: “Arsenal would be a good team to play for.
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"I like the teams that play open football. Today it is difficult to decide which teams play that way.
"Barcelona are the closest in style to Santos and are almost the same style as Brazil in 1970.
"Between Chelsea and Arsenal? I would play for Arsenal if I had the chance."
Of course, Pele made the comments when Barcelona had just won the Champions League with a star-studded three-pronged attack that featured Lionel Messi, Luis Saurez and Brazilian trickster Neymar.
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Meanwhile, Arsenal were then managed by the legendary Arsene Wenger, but in a long period of trophy drought.