If today’s FA Cup final against Chelsea is to be Arsene Wenger’s final game in charge of Arsenal, the two men at the centre of the midfield battle are a perfect representation of where it all went wrong in the second half of the Frenchman’s spell.

It may seem a gross oversimplification, but Wenger’s time at Arsenal – a nice round number in 20 years – is very easily split into a superb first decade before a hugely disappointing second.

If Wenger’s early years in north London were characterised by trophies, great football and smart signings, the latter period can be very easily framed as the exact opposite: the trophies have dried up, the football has slowed down, and the manager has lost that all important touch in the transfer market that initially made him such an asset.

Patrick Vieira may have been plucked from AC Milan’s reserves for a mere £3.5million before becoming club captain and one of the best midfielders of all time, but that was a long time ago in a very different footballing landscape, and in the real world Wenger criminally missed out on N’Golo Kante not just once, but twice.

It seems remarkable that even in today’s market, Leicester City snapped up the irrepressible Frenchman for just £5.6million from Caen, not a whole not more than Vieira cost when he first rocked up at Highbury. In those days, of course, Wenger’s scouts would have spotted that something special in Kante before any other club in England, but it’s a harsh reality for the 67-year-old that he has failed to keep up as recruitment systems in the Premier League and even the Championship have stepped it up a level.

Still, we can just about let that one slide. After all, who else saw this coming from Kante? The 5’6″ dynamo arrived at the King Power Stadium as a rarity in the modern game – a nobody, and finished his first season as a starring figure in the most unlikely Premier League title victory we’re ever likely to see. Hailed by Claudio Ranieri as doing the job of two midfielders, Kante was named in the PFA Team of the Year and fast-tracked into the France squad for Euro 2016 having previously been completely overlooked by them at youth level. Described as ‘by far the best player in the league’, by Sir Alex Ferguson, no less, a transfer to a big club and a huge profit for Leicester seemed inevitable.

‘With Arsenal there was an interest but not a big as other clubs,’ Kante revealed in April. To overlook Kante once was an unfortunate oversight on Wenger’s part, but to do so twice is unforgivable.

In the early Emirates Stadium years there were youngsters like Denilson brought in on a shoestring budget, with Wenger arguably doing well to keep Arsenal in the top four at all as rivals around them spent considerably more on more glamorous names. Now, however, there can be no excuse. While Kante moved from Leicester to Chelsea for around £32million, Granit Xhaka was signed by Wenger for roughly the same price.

And yet, no hint of remorse from Wenger. With it publicly known by this point that he didn’t push hard enough for Kante, Wenger insisted earlier this month that he made the right choice by signing the Switzerland international over him.

‘I think today you can say he is a success because he is getting stronger in every single game, and also he has a good, consistent focus. I believe this is a very important quality,’ he said. ‘When we play at home especially, and you are dominating the games, it’s important to have someone who can pass from deep areas through the lines. We looked for someone who could do that and I felt he had those specific qualities to do that.’

Sick to death of his excuses for the best part of ten years now, this offering was never likely to wash with Arsenal fans. There is little evidence to support the fact that Xhaka is miles better in possession than Kante, and he is nowhere near him in terms of the protection he offers the back four, both in terms of stamina, composure and sheer skill in the art of tackling or intercepting.

Xhaka may well improve at Arsenal, but as ever Wenger chose to spend the same kind of fee that could’ve signed a proven Premier League champion with the best engine in football on a tidy passer for the future.

As well as summing up Wenger’s decline, the two transfers also reflect the huge difference between Arsenal and Chelsea these days: the Blues, ruthless as ever, made sure they were at the front of the queue to sign a defensive midfield specialist who would’ve fit in at any top club around Europe. And even though he started slowly, Antonio Conte’s early-season reshuffle ensured Kante was allowed to do what he does best and cover the entire midfield, rather than just sit in front of the back four like Claude Makelele, with whom he is often lazily compared. Arsenal fans can only imagine having a manager who adjusts his tactics to the strengths of his players, rather than working the other way round despite repeated failure.

It may go down as one of his last great failures as Arsenal manager, and it seems fitting then that the pair will be at the centre of what could well be his last game in charge if today’s game ends with a Chelsea win: another cup for Kante, one costly mistake too many by Wenger.

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