Bacary Sagna has opened up on the anguish he felt when making the choice to go away Arsenal for Manchester City.
The previous Gunners right-back signed for the north London club in the summertime of 2007 as a virtual unknown from Auxere.
Sagna would go on to make 213 Premier League appearances for Arsenal and played his last game for the club within the 2014 FA Cup final as Arsene Wenger’s side ended their nine-year trophy drought, winning the FA Cup after staging a dramatic comeback against Hull City.
A move to City on a free transfer was already within the pipeline for Sagna prior to that memorable time out at Wembley. Indeed, the previous France international played that entire season knowing it might be his last for Arsenal following a contract stand-off.
‘Leaving Arsenal, it was a really difficult decision for me to make,’ Sagna told Ladbrokes on the launch of Ladisfaction. ‘I remember being emotional initially of the 2013-14 season without having really talked to anyone on the club, and I got frustrated.
‘Emotionally, I feel I used to be damaged, and that is the moment when I made a decision to go away. I desired to feel loved and revered – I knew I used to be loved and revered loads, but contractually, I signed a brand new contract in 2008 and between then and 2014, I never modified my contract.
‘So at the moment, in 2013, I believed I deserved it [a new contract], but it surely didn’t come.
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‘I broke my leg a few years before, and so after all I could understand there was a component of risk there from the club’s side, wondering whether I might get an injury like that again.
‘But ultimately, I feel there was a misunderstanding and an absence of communication, which created a situation where I got frustrated. And if I’m frustrated over something, then I can’t change my mind on it. I used to be hurt.’
On the difficult of playing a complete campaign knowing it might be his last on the club he held such a deep affection for, he added: ‘So I knew for that whole season that I used to be playing my last yr for Arsenal, and that actually hurt.
‘You recognize, playing each game, and going back to my house in London, knowing I’d be leaving in the summertime… it was a extremely difficult time. We obviously won the FA Cup that yr, although we were 2-0 down early on against Hull City, and I can just remember telling myself ‘there’s no way we’re losing this game’.
‘I knew it was my last game for the club, and so I used to be talking to myself throughout it, saying there was no way we could lose one other cup final at Wembley.
‘I used to be also frustrated because I couldn’t properly say goodbye to the fans, and it might have been nice to do this. I actually wanted to do this, but it surely didn’t occur ultimately. What I actually got was the alternative; people got upset at me for leaving.
‘But I gave my all for the club, and I never asked for anything – I used to be greater than joyful. I’ve all the time said, you’ll not find one other player that stays at your club for six seasons without complaining or asking for anything. You is not going to find that player. So after I left, and other people said I left for money, I used to be upset.’
I used to be upset on the fans, because I felt like I had given them my life. You recognize, even after I wasn’t at my best emotionally… I played for the club after I was injured, I played after I was a bit sick, I played after I lost my brother… and now you’re saying I left for money? I discovered that very unfair, and I used to be very upset.
With time, things went back to normal, but at first I used to be hurt.
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