Bacary Sagna’s last game in an Arsenal shirt will be remembered fondly, lifting the FA Cup after 120 minutes of dramatic cup final football is one hell of a way to go out.
The Frenchman has confirmed his exit from the club where’s he’s spent seven good years of his career, seeing out his contract despite Arsenal’s attempts to secure his services for the next two-three years.
The right back, who is currently with the France national team at their training base at Clairefontaine, revealed negotiations did not pan out how he wanted and as a result is set to walk out the door as a free agent at the end of June. He can however sign a pre-contractual agreement elsewhere like Lukasz Fabianski who has just agreed to join Swansea City.
Gooners had their hopes raised very slightly when Sagna suggested there was a 10% chance he would remain in north London, but the odds remained heavily in favour of a departure which has now come to light straight from the players mouth.
He told L’Equipe:
It’s no longer a secret, I will leave Arsenal for sure.
Don't Miss:
- Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s bid to takeover Arsenal ‘edging closer’
- [Player ratings] Arsenal 0-1 Man City: Painfully early error inflicts defeat
- [Team news] Arsenal line up vs Man City – Arteta to make five changes
They tried to make an effort but the discussions have not gone in the direction I wished it.
To finish at Wembley with the Cup, it was something magical.
It was an honour to evolve in that shirt, Even though we were criticised for quite some time due to the lack of trophies, I spent some magical moments there.
If I had to do it again, I’d do the same thing.
The French star has not found this process easy, and has been suffering from the stress of organizing his club career with plenty of lucrative offers on the table.
He added:
There are a lot of calls, a lot of speculation. Frankly, it gives headaches. I’ll sort it all out before the start of the World Cup.
All we can do now is thank Sagna for his services, he’s been an incredible servant of the club over the last seven years, and move on. We need a replacement, someone to battle Carl Jenkinson for the right back role and we need it pronto. It’s now obvious that Sagna is leaving so let’s hope Arsene Wenger acts quickly before our targets (Serge Aurier or potentially the Schalke right back Atsuto Uchida) get snapped up.
Good luck to Sagna, but please head overseas! We don’t want you to tarnish your reputation among Gooners by joining Manchester City, there’s nothing comforting about seeing your ex-players in a sky-blue shirt. Go earn a bucket load of money with PSG.
Au Revoir
COMMENTS