Wenger lost out to Italian giants Napoli in the race to sign the striker from Real Madrid.
“We were working on two or three targets and he was one of them,” Wenger told Arsenal’s official website.
“It didn’t come off in the end, that doesn’t take anything away from his quality.
“Napoli took advantage of that at the right moment, it’s more about timing as well.
“In the end Real Madrid sold two great players, one of them went to Napoli, one [Mesut Ozil] went to Arsenal so it’s 1-1 on that front.”
