'I always wanted to play for Arsenal - but I ended up hating them because of one man'

Ivorian forward Gervinho has admitted he now "hates" Arsenal - the club he once dreamed of playing for - after a bitter exit orchestrated by legendary manager Arsene Wenger. The 37-year-old, who dazzled in Ligue 1 with Lille, securing a league and cup double in his final season, joined Arsenal in 2011 for a substantial £10.5million fee.

His arrival at the Emirates was met with high expectations, especially after a successful pre-season where the then-24-year-old scored twice in a 2-1 win over FC Cologne. However, his Premier League debut was marred by a red card after he slapped Joey Barton. And despite a promising start to his second season with five goals in seven games, his form soon deteriorated.

The following summer, he was sold to Roma, leaving behind a sense of unfulfilled potential - and he has since revealed how his feelings towards the north London side changed after being ousted by Wenger.

"As a child, I dreamed of playing for Arsenal because I loved them," Gervinho revealed in a 2013 interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. "Now I hate them for the way Wenger treated me.

"He never had confidence in me. However, I regretted leaving the club after such a short time without being able to show my worth, which I'm now doing at Roma instead."

The 37-year-old enjoyed a relatively fruitful three-season spell in the Italian capital, notching up 26 goals and 20 assists across 88 appearances, reports the Mirror.

Wenger, who was hesitant to place his faith in the Ivorian at Arsenal, later admitted his reasons for letting him go. "I made that decision [to sell Gervinho] because he looked to play with a lack of confidence, especially at the Emirates.

"He is a very creative player, an instinctive dribbler, and for that, you need a lot of confidence to be completely efficient. I felt that in the last six months it was very difficult for him to express his talent in a confident way.

"Then you sit there and think, 'do I bring him back or does he need a new challenge to get that confidence back?' And I did not want to stop him from getting a new chance."

After leaving Roma, Gervinho had a brief stint with Hebei China Fortune before returning to Serie A with Parma in 2018. He spent three seasons there before moving to Trabzonspor in 2021.

However, a knee injury hampered his time in Turkey, and after a season, he moved on. His most recent footballing chapter was with Aris Thessaloniki in Greece during the 2022/23 term, where he played alongside ex-Luton Town, Burnley, and Watford striker Andre Gray.