Monaco defender Djibril Sidibe has confirmed that he received an offer from Arsenal but opted to reject a move to the Emirates due to the lack of regular first-team football he would have enjoyed in London.
The 24-year-old signed a five-year contract with Les Rouges et Blancs but revealed that he will be probably embark in a new adventure in the English Premier League after two more years in France.
According to reports in Italy, he agreed personal terms with Arsenal before deciding to join Monaco.
"Monaco is one of the great French clubs," he is quoted as saying by Squawka.
"From a football perspective, their ambitions in Europe and participation in the Champions League are very interesting.
"With Arsenal, I thought about it for a long time, but in terms of playing time, I knew I would be very limited, between 15 and 20 matches.
"That was not formally said to me, but I did their line-up in my head because there is quite strong competition for places.
"So I said to myself, do another year or two in Ligue 1, take as much from it as possible, and why not, then play there [in England].
"With Arsenal, I thought about it for a long time, but in terms of playing time, I knew I would be very limited, between 15 and 20 matches.
"That was not formally said to me, but I did their line-up in my head because there is quite strong competition for places.
"So I said to myself, do another year or two in Ligue 1, take as much from it as possible, and why not, then play there [in England]."
