QPR MIDFIELDER JOEY Barton has claimed he was on the verge of signing for Arsenal, before an unsavoury incident with striker Gervinho during the club’s encounter with Newcastle brought a halt to the deal.
Barton, who was reacting to what he perceived to be a dive by Gervinho, was alleged to have gone down easily in order to get the Ivory Coast star sent off during the game – an offence that he later admitted to.
And speaking to BBC Sport, Barton said his behaviour put paid to any hopes of a move to Arsene Wenger’s side:
“If I hadn’t played against Arsenal, I may have signed for them. There were a couple of conversations with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger but that’s different to actually signing.”
Gervinho incident cost me Arsenal move - Barton
QPR MIDFIELDER JOEY Barton has claimed he was on the verge of signing for Arsenal, before an unsavoury incident with striker Gervinho during the club’s encounter with Newcastle brought a halt to the deal.
Barton, who was reacting to what he perceived to be a dive by Gervinho, was alleged to have gone down easily in order to get the Ivory Coast star sent off during the game – an offence that he later admitted to.
And speaking to BBC Sport, Barton said his behaviour put paid to any hopes of a move to Arsene Wenger’s side:
Barton recently signed for QPR on a free transfer from Newcastle.
And the move has not lessened his tendency to be attracted to controversy, as the star has recently become embroiled in a spat with Wolves’ Karl Henry.
For more information, read BBC Sport>
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