Brazilian legend Pele reveals Arsenal is his favourite club in England

Brazil legend Pele has revealed that he would have loved to play for Arsenal, which is the only club in England he would have considered had he been available for selection on this day. Regarded as one of the best players ever in the history of the game, the Brazilian disclosed that he had snubbed approaches from the likes of Manchester United to stay in Brazil.

The Gunners are going through a crisis up front and could do with a world class striker in the ilk of Pele. They have only recently broken a two-game losing streak following their 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the Capital One Cup. Pele has, however, earmarked Barcelona as the team he would be most comfortable with, given the style of football they play is reminiscent of what he was accustomed to in Brazil.

When asked which team he would choose had he been given a chance to come to the Premier League, Pele said, as quoted by the Telegraph, "Arsenal is a good team to play with. I would play for Arsenal if I had a chance." When the topic moved to any club in the world on present form, he explained, "Today Barcelona. They are the same style as Santos and Brazil of my day. Almost the same style."

Pele revealed that he may have moved to another club during his prime had the concept of agents been more prevalent during his time. The Brazilian believes the agents decide which club would provide a wholesome experience to the player and it is on their advice that a player decides his future.

"I was invited to come to Europe many times, to come to Real Madrid, Milan, Manchester United but I was OK. Santos was the best team at that time," he continued. "But today is different. Because in my time we didn't have an agent. These days it is not the player, it is the agent who decides where they go to play. A lot of players they play one or another team because the agent tells them."

Pele also criticised Diego Costa for his antics on the pitch which got him a retrospective ban for three games. The Spaniard got into an altercation with Laurent Koscielny which was missed by the officials on the pitch and had to be referred to an independent committee who decided his fate.

"It is not a good message for children. It was dirty. So many things like this happen on the pitch and this is not good. It is not good for football," he added.