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Midfield ‘hardman’ reveals reason behind failed Arsenal move

By on January 18, 2017

Midfield hardman Joey Barton has revealed that he was due to hold talks with Arsenal about a possible move to the Emirates before he joined Queens Park Rangers in 2011.

Barton was at Newcastle United at the time of our reported interest and Arsenal had made contact with the midfielder about a possible move through intermediaries.

The 34-year-old was due to hold talks directly with Arsene Wenger about a potential switch from St James’ Park to North London back in 2011 and he’s admitted that he would have jumped at the chance to join Arsenal.

However, the hot-headed star blew his chance to impress Wenger after clashing with Gerinvho and getting him sent off during our game with Newcastle that season.

We ended up drawing the match after failing to break down the Geordies with only ten men and it seems Arsene never forgave Barton for the incident and dropped all interest in the player.

When asked about Arsenal’s interest, Barton is quoted as saying by the Sun:

“No, intermediaries spoke on their behalf.

“There was definitely some low-level interest, and before I got sent off against Arsenal, when the thing with Gervinho happened, I was due to hold some form of discussions with them.

“But then it never came to be. Would I have liked to have played for Arsenal? Of course. Who wouldn’t?”

Barton’s career pretty much nose-dived from there as he ended up joining QPR in the summer of 2011 before going on to join Burnley in 2015. The mouthy scouser then endured a nightmare spell at Glasgow Rangers before rejoining Burnley last summer.

I think we can all safely say Barton getting Gervinho sent off was the best thing for Arsenal that day as it would have been a sad day had he ever completed a move to the Emirates.