‘I quit Arsenal and asked for transfer because I ran out of patience – I wish I never left’
A former Arsenal star has admitted he regrets his decision to leave the Gunners after running out of patience in north London.
Jeremie Aliadiere might have thought all his Christmas’ had come at once after he secured his dream move to Arsenal in 1999 at the age of 16 after progressing through the famous Clairefontaine in his native France.
Clairefontaine has a reputation of producing some of the France’s most gifted talents – with the likes of Thierry Henry, Kylian Mbappe and Nicolas Anelka gracing its famous halls. And back in 1999, Aliadiere looked set to be the next breakout star to emerge from the academy.
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The forward made his Gunners debut two years later and went on to play 51 times for Arsenal, scoring nine goals, including 10 league appearances in the Invincible campaign of 2003/04.
However, as Arsenal’s dominance on English football started to wain, the Frenchman headed out on three different loan spells to Celtic, West Ham and Wolves, before playing 23 times in the 2006/07 season – which would be his final for Arsenal.
Aliadiere completed a £2million move to Middlesbrough in 2007 and enjoyed a productive first season, but injuries and relegation left a sour taste over the remainder of his time in Teesside.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, via William Hill World Cup 2026 betting odds, Aliadiere spoke about his exit from the Emirates: “At the time I didn’t regret it because all I had in my head was just wanting to play in the Premier League week in, week out and just have a bit more recognition.
“Middlesbrough did offer me that, and that’s why at the time I didn’t regret it. I spent three years there, the first year was really good but the second season was quite tough because I was injured a lot and we got relegated to the championship.”
However, the Frenchman admitted that he wishes he remained at Arsenal now he reflects back on his career. “I would lie if said I never regret leaving Arsenal.
“I would have said because football at that time when I left was becoming much more of a rotation game when you had more players on the bench, you had more changes, more substitutions.”
Aliadiere had to compete with the likes of Freddie Ljungberg, Jose Antonio Reyes, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Sylvain Wiltord for a place in the Invincibles side.
While by the time he was departing, Robin van Persie, Alexander Hleb, Tomas Rosicky, Julio Baptista and Theo Walcott were all through the door.
“I probably would have had more game time at Arsenal but I was at Arsenal for eight years and I was in that era where it was impossible to break through.
“You had Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, you had four players on the bench, only three could come on and that was including a goalkeeper, so you had to do something good to just make the squad.
“I ran out of patience and I was just tired of waiting and waiting. I was 23, I needed to play football, and, I needed to play week in, week out.
“Now at the end of my career, I would say I wish I had never left Arsenal and stayed all my life and all my career there.
“But I know at the time I needed to play, so the decision was the one that I’ve made, and I don’t regret that because at that time I knew I needed to go, I needed to go and play.”
Aliadiere played 86 times for Middlesbrough before returning to France in 2011 with Lorient in Ligue 1.
He later enjoyed two years in Qatar with Umm Salal before a brief return to Lorient, where he finished his career.
