Arsene Wenger sold Arsenal’s own Frank Lampard and told him he might buy him back, but he never did

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Arsene Wenger was involved in dozens of transfers during his time at Arsenal.

The legendary Frenchman spent 22 years in the red half of North London, and he is the club’s greatest-ever manager. Arsenal are a massive brand today because of the work he did.

Wenger signed a number of players for Arsenal, and he sold many too – including a few academy graduates.

One of them has now shared what actually happened when he was moved on.

Arsene Wenger told Steve Sidwell that Arsenal might re-sign him, but they never did

Steve Sidwell joined the Arsenal academy when he was just nine years old.

The Englishman, who was born in Wandsworth in London, won two FA Youth Cups in the Gunners’ academy setup and showed a lot of promise.

Arsene Wenger was well aware of the kind of player Sidwell was, but he never gave him a senior opportunity at the club.

In 2003, a bid from Reading was accepted for the midfielder, and he has now revealed how his conversation with Wenger and his assistant, Pat Rice, transpired.

Sidwell said on the Joy of Football podcast: “Reading came in and put the bid in to Arsenal. It was accepted. I thought: ‘Right, I’m just going to speak to Arsene about this and Pat Rice’.

“I went up to London Colney and said: ‘Look, what’s going on?’ And they just said: ‘Look, we’ll give you another contract. We’d like you to stay, but we don’t know when or if you’re going to get there.’

“I remember Arsene saying: ‘If you were my son, I would say, go out and play. Go out and play, because one day this club might buy you back.’

“And I always held him to that.”

Arsene Wenger explained five years later why he sold Steve Sidwell

After leaving Arsenal, Sidwell went on to play for Reading, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Fulham and Stoke City in the Premier League and had an impressive career.

When he was at Villa, performing really well, Wenger was asked about the midfielder and the reason why he was allowed to leave the club.

The Frenchman praised Sidwell and compared him to Frank Lampard, but he defended his decision to sell him without giving him a senior game at Arsenal.

He said in 2008, as per the Daily Mail: “Sidwell is a good all-round midfielder. He is good at defending, a hard defender and goes into the box well. He is a bit similar to Lampard in his game. I’m happy he has had a good career because we always knew he would make a professional.

“It was difficult to assess at what level [he would play] because when he was younger, he had technical problems, but he has improved that side of his game and is now a very good player.

“You can only play with 11, it’s as simple as that. The best 11 play, and at the time, he was not within that. Even in the squad, it was difficult for him to get on the bench. At some stage, for his development, it was better for him to go and play somewhere.”