MY ABUSIVE PHONE CALL TO WENGER

‘I called him a w **** r and an a ****** e when he blocked my big money Palace move

despite apologising for his foulmouthed outburst at Wenger, Bendtner started just one Premier League game that season.

Bendtner, now at FC Copenhagen, writes: “It’s the evening of my last day as Arsenal player.

“I’m sitting at The Westbury, my favourite hotel in London, waiting for the fax with Wenger’s signature.

“With me I have Tom Brookes (his agent), Crystal Palace’s club chairman Steve Parish, and manager Ian Holloway. We have been here most of the day and I am impatient.

“Wenger rings. He cuts straight to the chase. ‘We haven’t been able to buy the striker we wanted. So now you have to be a back-up. It will be your job next year.’

“I hang up, looking at Tom, who shrugs. Then I call back, saying a lot of ugly, disrespectful things like ‘a**hole’ and ‘w **** r.’

“I’m really trying to free myself. Wenger replies with his thick French accent: ‘It’s not going to happen. See you for training.’

“I have a sleepless night and on Tuesday morning I drive early to London Colney.

“I go directly to the manager’s office and knock. ‘You must excuse the things I said yesterday,’ I begin. I really don’t want to be Wenger’s enemy. Morten Olsen (former Denmark coach) and him are probably the two that I least want to disappoint. ‘We forget it and look forward,’ he says.

“But I’m not that naive. My chances in the Arsenal jersey have never been less. The next year will be uphill like nothing else in my career.

“I no longer enjoy Wenger’s protection.”

Bendtner did finally get his departure a year later when he swapped England for Germany as he signed for Wolfsburg.