Triaud: Wenger did not need Chamakh

The 25-year-old Moroccan international was the subject of one of the longest-running transfer sagas of the summer, with the forward linked with a string of Premier League sides including Arsenal, West Ham, Sunderland, Spurs, Fulham and Blackburn.

However, Bordeaux remained reluctant to let their prize asset go to anyone other than a club they considered to be bigger than themselves, with Arsenal unwilling to meet the Ligue 1 club's valuation of the player, who netted 13 league goals last season.

And Triaud has confirmed that the Gunners' boss expressed no more interest in the goal-getter after seeing his one and only bid rebuffed.

"They made me an unacceptable offer,” he told So Foot.

“Then I had no further news for a fortnight.

“I picked up the phone and said 'What are you doing Arsene?' and he told me 'It's fine, I don't need Chamakh, whatever the transfer costs'.”

And Triaud insisted that, despite a flurry of reports all summer quoting the striker saying he wanted to leave the Ligue 1 club, Chamakh was never going to be sold unless the price and destination were right for les Girondins.

“I don't care at all about the player's wishes,” he said.

“From the moment he signed with us for four years, he signed for four years.

“I have known players who haven't been very good and they didn't come up to me to say 'I'm paid too much, I'm going to terminate my contract for sympathy'.

“So why if they are good should I go and tell them 'It's OK, we'll sort out the contract you signed?'”