Fuente : Arsenal
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ARSENAL: Wenger - I may let Bentley leave

/noticias.info/ David Bentley has handed in a transfer request and Arsène Wenger is prepared to let the young striker leave Highbury.

The England Under-21 international spent last season on loan at Norwich. He made 28 appearances and scored two goals as the Canaries struggled against relegation. Although his side eventually went down, Bentley’s reputation rose during the campaign.

The Peterborough-born playmaker turns 21 at the end of this month and on the eve of the new season, he has asked to move on. Wenger will reluctantly agree if a reasonable offer arrives. The manager feels it is the only fair course of action given the sky-high standards at Highbury these days.

“It is the risk of giving a player out on loan in the Premiership,” said Wenger. “When he comes back he has had a taste for it. He thinks ‘I will not be able to get the number of games I got last year’. Then he becomes impatient and nervous about the situation.

“I understand it because David plays basically on the flanks or as a second striker for us. On the flanks we have Reyes, Hleb, Pires and Ljungberg. Up front we have Reyes, Henry, Bergkamp, Van Persie and Quincy. When you want to put players in you realise we have a big squad. It is a young squad but a big squad. So I am prepared to let him go.

“It was the same situation with Matthew Upson and Jermaine Pennant. The requested level is not to be a good player, it is to be a world-class player because you have a world-class player in front of you. It is competition.

“Is he in front of Reyes, Pires, Ljungberg, Hleb? In my opinion no but if I am wrong I am completely happy.

“I feel the fact that I am honest goes against me [in these situations]. I can say ‘you are staying because you are a home-grown player, English and the whole media will be against me if I let another home-grown player go’.

“But it is about David Bentley making a career, whether it is here or somewhere else. And remember if he does make a career somewhere else then it is down to Arsenal too.” notas_de_prensa_archivo