Arsenal had a loan move for Aleksandr Kokorin rejected in the summer, Dinamo Moscow coach Andrey Kobelev has revealed, while the forward's agent suggested he was not "desperate" to go to the Emirates Stadium.
Kokorin, 24, was a target for the Gunners, according to Kobelev, only for the Premier League club to have an offer knocked back by Dinamo during the transfer window.
Kobelev claims he had a say in rejecting the loan bid, but hinted that Arsenal may have been more successful had they attempted to sign the Russia international on a permanent deal.
"I was among those who vetoed this deal," he told Sovetsky Sport. "We think that a loan move to Arsenal is a wrong option for Kokorin. He deserves better. Everyone is laughing, but he has a great potential, and the best coaches in the world see it.
"The point is that if a club pays good money for you, you are given time for adaptation. If a club invests a small sum, he can be benched after a couple of games and returned to his mother club.
"For example, if [Gareth] Bale was loaned to Real Madrid he wouldn't have become the Bale he is now, because it took him time to fit into the system. Kokorin deserves to play at a decent club, and he has to move there as a fully developed player who can deliver results."
Kokorin's agent, Kirill Loginov, confirmed that his client was the subject of a bid from Arsenal, but added that the player himself was not too concerned about missing out on a move to North London.
"Aleksandr has chances to play [at a big club] if everything will be OK, and it doesn't have to be Arsenal," Loginov told sports.ru. "Dinamo refused to let him go to Arsenal, but that doesn't mean that he was desperate to go there. I don't remember them winning any titles, apart from the FA Cup, so... I don't know [how attractive they are].
"There was an offer, it was reviewed and refused. The decision was absolutely right. There were some quite disrespectful parts in that offer. He has very good relations with the Dinamo coaching staff and management, and naturally was updated about everything."