Arsenal fans were ‘unfair’ when I joined Man City – this is the reason I left | Football

Bacary Sagna has opened up on the anguish he felt when making the decision to leave Arsenal for Manchester City.

The former Gunners right-back signed for the north London club in the summer 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 in 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 in the pipeline for Sagna prior to that memorable day out at Wembley. Indeed, the former France international played that entire season knowing it would be his last for Arsenal following a contract stand-off.

‘Leaving Arsenal, it was a very difficult decision for me to make,’ Sagna told Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction. ‘I remember being emotional at the start of the 2013-14 season without having really talked to anyone at the club, and I got frustrated.

‘Emotionally, I think I was damaged, and this is the moment when I decided to leave. I wanted to feel loved and respected – I knew I was loved and respected a lot, but contractually, I signed a new contract in 2008 and between then and 2014, I never changed my contract.

‘So at that time, in 2013, I thought I deserved it [a new contract], but it didn’t come.

‘I broke my leg a couple of years before, and so of course I could understand there was an element of risk there from the club’s side, wondering whether I would get an injury like that again.

‘But ultimately, I think there was a misunderstanding and a lack 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 was hurt.’

On the difficult of playing an entire campaign knowing it would be his last at the club he held such a deep affection for, he added: ‘So I knew for that whole season that I was playing my last year for Arsenal, and that really hurt.

‘You know, playing every single game, and going back to my house in London, knowing I’d be leaving in the summer… it was a really difficult time. We obviously won the FA Cup that year, although we were 2-0 down early on against Hull City, and I can just remember telling myself ‘there’s no way we are losing this game’.

‘I knew it was my last game for the club, and so I was talking to myself throughout it, saying there was no way we could lose another cup final at Wembley.

‘I was also frustrated because I couldn’t properly say goodbye to the fans, and it would have been nice to do that. I really wanted to do that, but it didn’t happen in the end. What I actually got was the opposite; people got upset at me for leaving.

‘But I gave my all for the club, and I never asked for anything – I was more than happy. I’ve always said, you’ll not find another player that stays at your club for six seasons without complaining or asking for anything. You will not find that player. So when I left, and people said I left for money, I was upset.’

I was upset at the fans, because I felt like I had given them my life. You know, even when I wasn’t at my best emotionally… I played for the club when I was injured, I played when I was a bit sick, I played when I lost my brother… and now you’re saying I left for money? I found that very unfair, and I was very upset.

With time, things went back to normal, but at first I was hurt.

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