Bacary Sagna confirms Arsenal exit

Bacary Sagna

Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna has revealed that he will be leaving the North London club this summer.

Sagna’s contract with Arsenal expires next month and talks were going on between him and the club for the past one month. But in spite of the efforts taken by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to retain him, there was widespread speculation that he will not be renewing the contract.

Amidst all doubts, Sagna finally broke the ice by confirming that he will leave Arsenal this summer.

“It is no longer a secret, I will leave Arsenal, it is a certainty,” he told L’Equipe

The French International, who spoke to the media from his country’s World Cup training camp, said, “Arsenal made an effort (to keep me), but the discussions did not go in the direction that I wanted.”

The French full-back was offered £80,000-a-week to stay with the London club for three years after the expiry. But, Sagna confirmed that he wants to end his seven year stay at Emirates and rejected the new contract.

Bacary Sagna joined Arsenal in 2007 from Auxerre. Since then, he has been playing consistently in the right-back position. He has made 213 appearances for Arsenal and scored 4 goals.

Though he refused to comment on his move, it is suspected that Manchester City would rope in the 31-year-old right-back as a competition to Pablo Zabaleta. Samir Nasri, Emmanual Adebayor, Gael Clichy and Kolo Toure have all left Arsenal for Manchester City. Sagna thanked all the fans for their support throughout his stay. Sagna said he was happy to lift the FA Cup in his last match for the Gunners. He also added that it was an honour to wear the shirt.

However, he was always a fan-favourite which was evident when the fans chanted, “Bac, We want you to stay” during his final few weeks. After his move became widely suspected Arsenal fans even had a placard stating, ‘Goodluck Bacary’ during the FA Cup final at Wembly.

With Sagna’s move, Arsenal will have to look for a replacement at the back. Though an inexperienced Carl Jenkinson claims that he is ready to fill in, Arsenal has been linked with approaching Serge Aurier and Atsuto Yuchida to take Sagna’s place. But, Wenger has confirmed that most of the Gunners’ transfer activity will take place only after the World Cup.