Joey Barton claims Gervinho incident stopped Arsenal move

 
Barton was in talks with several clubs over the summer, including Arsenal 
 

New Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton claims he was very close to joining Arsenal last month.

But the midfielder, 29, a Newcastle player at the time, said an incident in the Magpies' draw with Arsenal which led to opponent Gervinho's dismissal ended his hopes of a move.
Barton was criticised for going to ground too easily as the forward was red-carded by referee Peter Walton.
"If I hadn't played against Arsenal, I may have signed for them," Barton said.
"There were a couple of conversations [with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger] but that's different to actually signing.

JOEY BARTON'S CAREER STATS

  Manchester City, 2002-2007
130 appearances, 15 goals
Newcastle United, 2007-2011
81 appearances, 7 goals
Queens Park Rangers, 2011-
2 appearances, 1 goal

"The Gervinho incident happened and there's nothing I can do about it now. If it happened again, I'd like to think I'd deal with it differently.
"Things happen for a reason and there's a lesson to be learned from it. Right now we sit above Arsenal in the table - hopefully that's the case in May."
Barton was made available on a free transfer by Newcastle after the player criticised the way the club was being run on Twitter.
He played two games for Newcastle this season - against Arsenal and Sunderland - before making his QPR debut against his former club.
Barton said: "There were a couple of offers on the table but now I'm really happy to be at QPR and in London. We play an expansive and exciting brand of football and can hopefully surprise a few people this season."
Barton was in the news this week for claiming Wolves midfielder Karl Henry was an "idiot" and "inferior" after a clash between the pair in QPR's 3-0 victory. Henry responded by calling the former Manchester City player "embarrassing".