Joey Barton 'nearly signed for the gunners'

Interesting bit of information regarding the speculation before of a possible Joey Barton move to Arsenal move that first got mentioned during the summer. A lot of people thought this was pure newspaper spin, but now it's transpired that, according to Barton, he and Arsene Wenger indeed did have a few conversations. However he stated a potential move to Arsenal was scuppered after the infamous incident involving new Arsenal signing, Gervinho.

Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood moved quickly to quash such rumours, stating that such conversations were news to him.
“It’s not something the board heard about and if it was a serious proposition I certainly would have expected us to,” Peter is quoted as saying.

In response to this, Barton tweeted, "Am not going to be drawn on PHW's comments, he obviously needs to open a dialogue channel with Wenger, Pat Rice and Steve Rowley..........I feel I made the right move for me, am very happy at QPR and wish Arsenal, the best of luck. Everything happens for a reason, I believe".


I think despite Barton's notorious reputation, its the type of steel and personality that Arsenal possibly would have benefited from. He certainly would not have been scared to kick a few arses to get his teammates and mentality-wise, it would have been great for the team, especially when defending a lead. What do you think?