David Seaman says two former Arsenal players hated each other and never even spoke

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Arsenal have had a number of characters in their squads over the years.

Several superstars have donned the famous red and white. From Charlie George and Liam Brady to Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, we’ve seen some true greats.

One of the biggest reasons why Arsenal were so successful back in the day was the unity in the club. Players would give everything for each other.

However, there have been times when some of them have not got along well. David Seaman has shared an interesting story about two such former Arsenal stars.

David Seaman says Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia disliked each other

Seaman is one of Arsenal’s greatest-ever goalkeepers.

The legendary Englishman spent over a decade at Highbury and played a big part in the early success under Arsene Wenger.

Seaman was replaced by Jens Lehmann at Arsenal, and the German was great too. He helped the Gunners become Invincible in the famous 2003/04 season.

Lehmann’s deputy at Arsenal was Manuel Almunia, who signed for Arsenal from Celta Vigo after Seaman left the club to join Manchester City.

The relationship between the two Arsenal keepers was not good, says Seaman.

Speaking on the Seaman Says podcast with David Raya, the former Arsenal star revealed that Lehmann and Almunia really disliked each other, to the point that they never spoke.

Seaman said: “I remember, I think it was Jens Lehmann and Almunia – they didn’t like each other.

“They didn’t speak. They wouldn’t warm each other up in the warm-up, so the coach had to go and do the warm-up with them.”

What Lehmann has publicly said about Almunia

Almunia was behind Lehmann in the pecking order in his first few years at Arsenal, and that was not a surprise at all. The German was the undisputed number one.

However, in the 2007/08 season, after Lehmann started the first two games of the campaign, he was pushed to the bench by Wenger, and Almunia became the number one.

As you can imagine, the Germany international was far from happy, and he made his feelings known about Almunia.

“To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny,” Lehmann once said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

On another occasion, the legendary German said: “My coach confirmed to me my impression that he uses a different measuring stick to evaluate Almunia…… when I see the performances on the field, I get angry and I have to clench my fist in my pocket.”