Defender says Arsenal never actually wanted to sell him, he left for just £7m

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Arsenal have been forced to sell their fair share of talented players over the years.

Indeed, back in the Arsene Wenger era, the Gunners were often bullied into selling some of their top talents as the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Kolo Toure all left for Premier League rivals in quick succession.

Gael Clichy is another player who left Arsenal for a Premier League rival around this time, and now, speaking on Ben Foster’s Podcast, the Frenchman has been discussing his move to Manchester City.

According to Clichy, Arsenal didn’t actually want to let him leave around this time, but, at the same time, they weren’t willing to go all out to keep hold of him.

Arsenal didn’t want Gael Clichy to leave

Clichy spoke about leaving Arsenal.

The defender joined Manchester City for just £7m back in 2011, but according to the defender, Arsenal didn’t want to lose him.

However, the Gunners ultimately didn’t do enough to keep hold of Clichy so he decided to move to the Etihad.

“So I think the club didn’t want me to leave, but they didn’t want me to stay at any cost. You know, I wasn’t that kind of player. And what you realise is that when you leave and you see something newer and fresher, then there’s a different way to see the game,” Clichy said.

“Like I said, City opened up my eyes in a way of how to become and to be a professional player, which was totally different again. Like coaches, clubs can show you a different way of behaving and still have success.”

Kolo Toure didn’t want to leave Arsenal for Man City too

Arsenal lost a number of players to Manchester City during this era, but, by the sounds of things, a lot of these transfers were avoidable.

Kolo Toure admitted he didn’t want to leave Arsenal, but he had to make a move as things were turning sour at the Emirates.

“No, I didn’t want to leave Arsenal, but at one point it started to be a little bit toxic,” he stated.

“Other players came in and they came with different mindsets, and especially when you play at the back and you don’t get on very well with people, it is quite difficult.

“Arsenal is about togetherness. Other players coming in, and they had different mindsets really, and I couldn’t cope with that.”

Emmanuel Adebayor and Samir Nasri also swapped north London for Manchester around this time, and perhaps if these situations had been handled differently, the Gunners could have kept this group together and pushed to win more titles.