Arsene Wenger: I didn’t stop Mathieu Debuchy’s United switch
Debuchy has played only 16 minutes of football this season for the Gunners and is arguably Wenger’s fourth-choice right-back behind Hector Bellerin, Carl Jenkinson, and youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The 31-year-old has found himself frozen out of the first-team picture at the Emirates Stadium and spent the second-half of last season on loan at Bordeaux.
In an interview with L’Equipe, Debuchy said his relationship with Wenger had deteriorated and that a number of potential transfers had been prevented from happening.
“We acknowledge each other, we say hello, nothing more,” Debuchy said.
Debuchy went on to suggest he had been denied the opportunity to sign for Louis van Gaal’s United last January, and that further chances to leave in the summer failed to come to fruition.
But Wenger insisted yesterday that United never made a bid for the former Newcastle player. “They have never made an offer for him. It’s completely untrue. It’s sometimes surprising to hear things like that,” he said.
He was also unequivocal when asked if Debuchy was for sale when the transfer window opens next week. “Yes, of course (we are listening to offers) but we speak,” he added.
“We have communication with all the players. It’s a little bit of a frustrated article from a player who is injured, you know when you are injured you cannot play. When he had the opportunities to play when Bellerin was injured, he was injured. So I cannot do anything about that.
“I gave him last year the opportunity to go to Bordeaux on loan, but we had nobody coming in for him over the summer period and there are some things that are not true in this article.
“We never blocked him to go to Fiorentina, nor Espanyol. They had no interest in him at all because we checked that, so you have to take this (L’Equipe) article with a little distance.”
Wenger, meanwhile, believes Sam Allardyce is an example to young English managers looking to make their mark in the Premier League.
Allardyce, 62, takes his Crystal Palace side to face Wenger’s Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on New Year’s Day, having been appointed as Alan Pardew’s replacement last week.
“He is an example to follow as he can give hope to other English managers to get a chance in the Premier League,” Wenger said.
“They can do it with their club and come up and be successful. You want the right mixture.
“I think it is fair to have local people to be at the top and that is why I speak about mixture.”
Allardyce says he turned his back on a lucrative offer from China — and a holiday in Dubai — to keep himself feeling young with Palace.
“An agent said there was a football club over there and you can go and have a chat with them if you want to, they’re interested in you,” Allardyce said. “In all honesty, it wasn’t for me at that stage.”
Arsenal Ladies have released long-serving Irish goalkeeper Emma Byrne and former England winger Rachel Yankey. Dubliner Byrne, 37, departs after a 17-year stint in which she helped the club earn 11 league titles, 10 FA Cups and the Uefa Women’s Cup.
She lost her place to Dutch goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal last season, and the club said: “Everyone at Arsenal would like to thank Emma for her commitment and contribution to the club, and to wish her the very best for her future.”
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