Andrey Arshavin has revealed he was on the verge of depression after being ‘punished’ by his restriction to the bench.
The departed Russian, whose contract expires this month with the Gunners, played just 80 minutes of Premier League football despite training consistently with the first team all season.
The humiliation of sitting on the bench for majority of the season crushed the 32-year-old but luckily be was mentally strong and pushed himself through to collect the reported £85,00 a week – life is tough!
He told the Sport Express:
The fact is I didn’t want to stay in England, this was clear since January.
I don’t regret anything, but I had to leave.
It was a punishment sat on the bench. To train even though you know you won’t play – it is psychologically difficult.
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I nearly suffered depression, but I didn’t because I’m mentally strong. The monotony of life there was crushing me.
The little Russian certainly endured a year to forget – but he had the option to leave and take a pay cut if football was his main prerogative.
Unfortunately the past two seasons have been lackluster for the talented midfielder who demonstrated such an ability in his earlier years, scoring all four goals in that famous 4-4 draw at Anfield shortly after his arrival.
The good news for the Gunners is that he is off the wage bill finally and they can look to reinvest the large sums in a quality player.
Chin up Arshavin, life can’t be all that bad as your bank account clocks in the millions!
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