Manuel Almunia has admitted that he was so frustrated by his lack
of opportunities that wanted to leave Arsenal a fortnight
ago.
The Spanish goalkeeper was close to returning to his homeland in
search of a regular starting place but says his world has been
turned upside down by Jens Lehmann's achilles injury.
Almunia, 30, who kept his second consecutive clean sheet last night
against Sparta Prague, said: "Two weeks ago I was thinking about
leaving. It's very frustrating when you have the role of the second
goalkeeper, or you are the cup goalkeeper.
"Now, though, I have the possibility of a few more games and I am
much more happy. My life is different now. In one day, everything
changes."
Almunia explained that he had a heart-to-heart with Arsene Wenger
at the end of last season and decided to stay on and fight for the
No1 jersey.
He added: "In the summer I said no to a few teams from Spain but
when the season started and I wasn't playing, I was thinking of
leaving.
"Three years without playing is very frustrating. It's hard when
you just look for when the next cup game is. Every morning I woke
up and thought, 'I won't play until September'.
"I have spent a long time waiting for my chance. I want to play and
one solution was to return to Spain.
"The teams interested in me are medium-sized but I would have been
playing. So I thought I would be happier than I was here. Now,
though, everything has changed."
Wth? Then what if Lehmann's okay
and is back for the number one spot? He will leave? that's...an
absurd thing to say from almunia
