Arsenal cult hero, Nicklas Bendtner has admitted that he did not get along well with ex-teammate, Emmanuel Adebayor when they played together for the club.
The Dane was an enigmatic character and had an outburst with two of his former colleagues at the North London-based club.
Bendtner really never lived up to expectations at the club as he scored 45 goals in 117 games and also found himself at odds with some of his team-mates, which all accounted for he not reaching his peak.
In January 2008, Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor squared up to each other during the League Cup semi-final second leg at White Hart Lane against Tottenham.
Speaking exclusively to our ‘In Lockdown’ podcast, the Dane explained the truth behind the controversial incident.
“He’s not really my cup of tea,” Bendtner said. “I got on with most people in the team and made some really good friends, but me and him? Probably not so much.
“I remember him being substituted on and I think there was a key moment where I don’t think the ball had been passed to him. There was a heated exchange of words where a lot was said between us, and then we squared up to each other.
“Then he sort of push headbutted me, so he sort of pushed me away while headbutting me on the nose. Then Gallas came in, split us up, and took us apart.
“I was very upset. I mean, we had such a poor performance, I think we lost 5-1. I was disappointed enough with myself and the team about the performance we gave, so that [incident] obviously didn’t do anything to help.
“We tried to talk to it through in the dressing room but not so many words… more something else. Then we got separated and called into the boss’ office the next day. We got fined and that was the end of it. We didn’t really have any encounters at all from that moment.
“We never tried to patch things up,” he added. “We learned to have respect for the club and the team. That we would be on the same team, we would give everything when we were on the pitch together, but we wouldn’t be friends.
“It’s not like if he was through on goal I wouldn’t pass the ball to him, that would never have been an effect from my point of view. I would always have passed in the greater good. We sort of just learned to play having it the way we had it, with the respect and understanding of the group.”
