Contrary to widespread belief that Frenchman Bacary Sagna dumped Arsenal for the riches at Premier League rivals Manchester City, the defender left the Gunners because of a different reason. Sagna has managed to clear the air almost a decade later.

The ex-Auxerre right-back disclosed what led to his Arsenal exit during one of his recent interviews with popular media portal Goal. He told their Arsenal correspondent, Charles Watts that the sale of two key players played a major role in his eventual exit from North London. Arsenal sold two important players in Robin Van Persie and Alexandre Song in the summer of 2012. According to Sagna, he didn't recover from the decision to sell both Van Persie and Song in the same summer till he left the club for Manchester City on a free transfer two years later.

Dutchman Van Persie left Arsenal for arch rivals Manchester United when he had one year on his Gunners deal. The Red Devils paid £24m to sign the striker and repaid that financial outlay by leading the club to the Premier League title in his first season (2012/13 campaign). On his part, Song joined Spanish club Barcelona upon leaving Arsenal.
Several Arsenal fans were livid when Song and Van Persie were sold in the same transfer window. Bacary Sagna also felt a similar emotion and he never recovered from that disappointment till he signed for Citizens as a free agent in 2014. At the time, a lot of the Gunners faithfuls thought he dumped the club in favour of a last paycheck at Manchester City.
Sagna spent three years with the Citizens before leaving at the end of his contract. The 37-year-old played for Italian Serie A outfit Benevento and Major League Soccer (MLS) team Montreal Impact after his Manchester City career. He has been a free agent since he leaving Montreal Impact in 2019.