Arsenal will take the field in their first Europa League game this season against Ukranian side Vorskla but before that former club captain Per Mertesacker has made a startling revelation.
Per Mertesacker joined the club in 2011 and since then played over 200 games for Arsenal before retiring from football at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Now the 33-year-old German is in charge of the Arsenal academy keeping alive his relationship with the club.
But speaking to ESPN the centre-back has claimed that he was shocked when Arsene Wenger announced his decision to leave the club and feels that the players were sort of responsible for the manager vacating his chair.
“It was a bit surprising for us. He came into the meeting and said that he had decided together with the bosses to leave at the end of the season,” he told ESPN.
“It was a sad moment because I had the feeling I contributed my share to it.
“His farewell was also the players’ fault because we had many chances to get better results. We failed while he backed us all the time.
“I was the first who felt the need to say something and said I deeply regretted it. It was important for him to see that we had something to say as a team and that we stood by his side.”
At the start of the new year, there were reports that a number of the senior pros were not happy with the manager and were indirectly asking the board to sack him.
While given the gravitas, Wenger held at the Emirates, the management obviously good not sack him directly but now this statement from Per Mertesacker is a clear indication that the players did play some part in Wenger leaving Arsenal.
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