Wenger regrets Bothroyd Arsenal departure

Arsenal legend Liam Brady, head of youth development, told Bothroyd he was no longer wanted at Highbury and he moved on to Coventry and has since had spells at Perugia, Blackburn, Wolves, Charlton and Stoke. Of course he's now with Cardiff and has become the Championship's leading striker.

His departure from The Gunners has always been a regret for boss Arsene Wenger.

"He is one of my regrets, he left very early." Wenger said in response to Jay's England call up. "But I have said many times it is important a guy has a good career, even if he goes somewhere else.

"It is better than to play in the reserves.

"He went down but has come back up again and we are all very proud of him at Arsenal."

Wenger had little to do with the decision to axe Bothroyd, but believes he has now matured into a fine player.

He added: "Sometimes it is only later they realise they not only have to have talent, but need to work as well.

"Sometimes to go down to the Championship, there is no better education.

"It is true, he had a little outcome that you can have when you are 16 or 17 but he is a good guy, and he is classy; left-footed, strong body, fantastic technique.

"The incident didn't happen in the first-team group, it happened in the youth team.

"Liam Brady is responsible for that. They made the decision and I didn't stand in the way because it was a disciplinary matter."