Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has dismissed suggestions from Mathieu Debuchy that he had a chance to leave for Manchester United last year.
The French defender launched a fairly scathing attack on his manager earlier this week, by hitting out at blocking his way to Manchester while suggesting that they are barely on speaking terms.
As reported by The Sun, Wenger responded to those claims in his press conference on Friday, and insisted that it was an interview borne out of frustration as he looks to smooth things over while also making his own stance on the situation crystal clear.
“We speak,” he said. “I communicate with all the players. It is a frustrated article from a player who is injured.
“When he had opportunity to play when Bellerin was injured he was injured. There are some things that are not true in his article so you have to take this article with a bit of distance.
“Manchester United didn’t make an offer for him. That is untrue. It is surprising to hear something like that.”
While it looks as though Debuchy’s future lies away from north London, Wenger remained relatively tight-lipped on the futures of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
The pair will see their respective contracts with the Gunners expire in 2018, and talk about possible new deals has dominated headlines for months.
Arsenal will undoubtedly be keen to keep hold of their star duo, but Wenger is seemingly taking a new approach with the matter and is giving little away to the media after entertaining rumours for weeks.
“We have had to face a lot of wrong information but we can not give anything else. There is nothing new.”
It’s an unwanted distraction for Arsenal at a time when they need to be focusing on putting together a run and applying pressure on their Premier League title rivals.
Nevertheless, Wenger seems to be doing the right thing as he looks to avoid any further talk of unrest or controversy and keeping things as straight forward as possible.