Arsenal boss refused to let me leave after I joined from Newcastle - I wanted Man Utd move

Former Arsenal defender Mathieu Debuchy previously lashed out at Arsene Wenger after claiming that the Gunners had shut down a possible move to Manchester United. In December 2016, the France international was brutally honest about his desire to leave the club.

Debuchy had arrived at Arsenal two years earlier after an impressive spell at Newcastle United. The full-back was signed for around £12million, having previously excelled at Lille, where he won Ligue 1 in 2011.

In his first season with the Gunners, Debuchy was limited to just 15 appearances in all competitions during an injury-hit campaign. Upon his return to full fitness, Debuchy struggled to dislodge Hector Bellerin at right-back. In the 2015/16 season, he only featured twice before sealing a loan move to Bordeaux in the January transfer window in an attempt to earn a place in France’s squad for Euro 2016.

Despite sealing a return to his homeland, Debuchy felt frustrated by how Arsenal had treated him. The France international claimed that the Gunners had blocked a potential move to Premier League rivals United a year earlier and admitted to barely being on speaking terms with Wenger.

Reflecting on his proposed move to Old Trafford, Debuchy recalled: "I wasn't playing a lot, it was United, there's nothing else to say,” he told L’Equipe, as per ESPN.

“For me, it was almost unexpected, but the coach said no. It's something I did not appreciate. He wasn't using me, so I didn't see his interest in doing that."

When asked about his relationship with long-serving Arsenal boss Wenger, Debuchy stated he hardly spoke to his compatriot. "We acknowledge each other, we say hello, nothing more," he added.

Debuchy argued that Arsenal had denied him a move to Old Trafford, leading him to join Bordeaux, where he made nine appearances. Despite reported interest from the likes of Espanyol and Fiorentina, he failed to find a permanent move and found himself in a similar scenario again in December 2016, though injury denied him the chance to find a new club.

"My situation doesn't meet what I had been hoping for, but that's football,” he told L’Equipe. “There have been things, injuries and the coach's choices that have meant that I haven't played. Even if I don't understand, I'm not surprised, I know how it works.

"[I want] a way out. I want to take on a new challenge, to get back into it, to simply do my job properly.”

However, Debuchy’s claims did not go unchallenged. Arsenal boss Wenger dismissed the suggestion that Arsenal had blocked a possible move to United and also discussed other transfer rumours surrounding the Frenchman.

“They have never made an offer for him,” Wenger said, as per the Guardian . “It’s completely untrue. It’s sometimes surprising to hear things like that.”

“When he had the opportunities to play when Bellerín was injured, he was injured [too]. 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.”

Debuchy was finally granted his wish to leave Arsenal in January 2018, six months before the end of his contract with the Gunners. He joined Saint Etienne on a free transfer, where he spent three-and-a-half years, and later had a two-year spell with Valenciennes before retiring in 2023.

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