'I was so desperate to leave Arsenal I swore at boss – but he still refused to sell me'

Arsenal bad boy Nicklas Bendtner launched a foul-mouth tirade at Arsene Wenger after a transfer fell through. Bendtner, who also played for Nottingham Forest, was regularly in the headlines during his time in English football, and not always for the right reasons.

Wenger brought the Dane to the Premier League in the mid-2000s, but despite flashes of quality, he was an enigmatic presence who often frustrated fans. With his relationship with Wenger going in the wrong direction, Bendtner was desperate to leave in 2013 and was on the verge of joining Crystal Palace.

A deal had been agreed, only for Wenger to pull the plug after Arsenal failed to secure a replacement striker ahead of the transfer deadline. That triggered an explosive reaction from Bendtner, who let rip at Wenger in a furious phone call.

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Writing in his autobiography, Both Sides, he said: “We’ve spent most of the day there [at Palace]. ‘Why can’t Arsenal pull their f****** fingers out and sell me, so I can get on with my career?’

“It’s after 8pm when Wenger calls. He gets straight to the point. ‘We haven’t been able to buy the striker we wanted. So now you have to be a back-up. It will be your job next year.’

“I hang up, looking at Tom [Brookes, his agent], who shrugs. Then I call back, saying a lot of ugly, disrespectful things. Like ‘a**hole’ and ‘w*****.’

“‘We can’t stand each other any more,’ I say, ending my tirade. ‘It’d be best if we parted ways. [Wenger says] ‘Well, OK, that’s quite possible. But it’s not going to happen. See you at training.’”

Bendtner’s relationship with Wenger never recovered and he was a bit-part player during the 2013/14 season before eventually leaving for Wolfsburg in Germany, where he spent two years. He then returned to English football with Forest, then of the Championship, on a free transfer in 2016.

After just six months at the City Ground, he was on the move again, joining Rosenborg of Norway before the final move of his career to the club where it all started, Copenhagen.

Arsenal and Forest meet in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. It will be former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou’s first game in the Forest hotseat since replacing the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo.

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