Former Arsenal defender Gael Clichy has hit out at the club, saying he didn’t feel valued towards the end of his spell in north London because Arsene Wenger famously promoted the 'British core' – prompting him to depart for Manchester City. 

Clichy spent eight years in north London and was part of the Invincibles squad which lifted the Premier League title in 2004.

The French left-back left the Emirates in 2011 for the Etihad and went on to lift the title and League Cup twice during his six year spell in the north west.

However, Clichy, speaking to Arsenal’s In Lockdown podcast, revealed he left the Gunners because he didn’t feel valued.

"I remember clearly at that time the club was trying to promote more British players," Clichy said.
 
"There was a group of four or five players, they were putting them out there, they wanted to build the team around them and I was getting to a point where, not the injuries, but where you feel that the club is saying they [don’t] want to keep you.
 
"I don't think they wanted me to leave but I didn't feel at the time that they wanted me to stay. I believe nowadays in football when you want a player to stay, you tell them you want them to stay and you make sure he stays.
 
"I didn't feel that at the time. I'm not the only one, if you look around at the other players who left at the time that I left they would probably tell you the same and I think overall the decision was good for everybody.

"It wasn't linked to my injury, it wasn't linked to anything but I could feel that the club was pushing towards something else."

Around the time of Clichy's departure unrest was growing with Wenger's managment and lack of tangible success.

The Gunners were struggling to compete at the business end of the table and at the top level of European football and doubts were growing about Wenger's ability to build another excellent team after he allowed the Invincibles to break up without fuly replacing their talents. 

The club were struggling with revenues in the aftermath of the move from Highbury to the Emirates and Wenger felt the future of the club was to be found in young English players. 

Carl Jenkinson, Aarron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs were touted as the next generation. 

Unfortunately, for the club and the players concerned, the high hopes Wenger and Arsenal supporters held for the famed 'British core' sadly did not match the reality - through injuries and poor form, and it has to be said, bad luck.

However, at the time that the five were lauded, Clichy felt underappreciated and chose to leave the club rather than stay. 
 
"If you speak with my close friends, my family," he said, adding, "there was a moment where I was dying to finish my career at Arsenal because I was loving every single moment of it.

"But at the same time seeing how it was going, seeing that for those last few years where we hadn't won anything, it was down to me as the player and I thought that maybe it was time to break the circle.
 
“They were trying to promote new players so I said to myself, 'You know what? Let's go and see something else.'"