Talks were held between Arsenal and tenacious midfielder
QPR midfielder Joey Barton has confirmed that talks were held between himself and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger whilst he was at Newcastle United but that the opening fixture between the clubs which saw Gervinho sent off, may have been the deciding factor that led to Arsenal relinquishing their interest.
The former Newcastle midfielder explained:
“If I hadn’t played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them. There were a couple of conversations (with Wenger) but that’s different to actually signing.”
Barton continued.
“The Gervinho incident happened and there’s nothing I can do about it now. If it happened again, I’d like to think I’d deal with it differently.”
Adding:
“Things happen for a reason and there’s a lesson to be learned from it. Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table, hopefully that’s the case in May. There were a couple of offers on the table but now I’m really happy to be at QPR and in London.”
