Arsene Wenger dismisses Mathieu Debuchy transfer claims

Debuchy had said in an interview earlier in the week that he no longer speaks to Wenger, explaining: "Before my loan to Bordeaux, I was often in his office. But now, I have not felt the need to. I do not want to. We greet each other, we say hello, nothing more."

In his pre-match press conference, the Arsenal manager rejected his player's assertions that he had been forbidden from moving to Manchester United, Espanyol or Fiorentina in the last two transfer windows.

“Nobody came in for him in the summer,” Wenger said. “We never blocked him from going to Fiorentina or Espanyol. They had no interest in him at all, we checked that. You have to take that article with a little distance.”

Debuchy had also said that Wenger had blocked a loan move to Manchester United in January 2016, but Wenger rejected that claim as well.

“They never made an offer for him,” Wenger said. “That is completely untrue.”