A former Arsenal defender has explained why he opted to join the Gunners and not Manchester United.
Many have turned down the North London club in the past, in favour of a switch to Old Trafford, while many players have directly left N5 for the north-west outfit.
The likes of Robin van Persie and Alexis Sanchez both felt they would be in a better position to win silverware at United, and left in controversial fashion.
However, the tide has turned recently, with the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Jurrien Timber rejecting offers from the Red Devils to sign for Arsenal in recent years.
Bacary Sagna says he joined Arsenal because of their French contingent
Bacary Sagna made 284 appearances for Arsenal between 2007 and 2014.
The Frenchman was a stalwart in the Gunners’ backline, dominating on the right-hand side of their defence for several years.
However, when he signed for the North Londoners, he was something of an unknown prospect developing at Auxerre in Ligue 1. Linked with United, Sagna has now revealed that he favoured a move to the Emirates over Old Trafford because of the French contingent at Arsenal.
“Arsenal was a French team,” Sagna told Reece Mennie.
“So for me, even reaching Arsenal with a French community of players was I think a smooth way to enter English football and my English was okay. I could understand because I learned at school, but I realised it was totally different from living there because you have accent and the way people were talking, you have the slang.
“So it was for me the nice way to enter English football football and the team was young also which make it a bit more easier because we were all kind of same age. If I reached a team like Man United where you had big personality, big players, I think I would have struggled more and the fact that the coach was French.”
Sagna would ultimately go on to play for United’s rivals, joining Manchester City on a free transfer after leaving the Gunners in 2014.
Who were Arsenal’s French players in 2014?
Arsenal are now in their Spanish iteration, but the club was synonymous with French players for much of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
Wenger himself was likely a huge contributing factor towards Sagna’s decision, although the Gunners had just lost French legend Thierry Henry in the summer that the right-back moved to the Emirates, while Patrick Vieira had left two years prior.
The existing core of French players at Arsenal in 2007 included the likes of William Gallas, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby and Mathieu Flamini, while more peripheral players from the European nation, such as Lassana Diarra and Armand Traore, also plied their trade in N5.
Sagna therefore had six Frenchmen by his side when he opted to join the Gunners, with Samir Nasri joining just a year later.
Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad had just three French players in Patrice Evra, Louis Saha and Mikael Silvestre.
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