Barton claims Gunners link

New QPR captain Joey Barton claims he could have signed for Arsenal if not for his run-in with Gervinho on the opening day of the season.

The 29-year-old was a Newcastle United player when he found himself at the centre of a scuffle with Arsenal debutant Gervinho in the club’s English Premier League opener on August 13, which led to Ivorian being sent off for slapping the midfielder.

The midfielder said he had previously chatted with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger about a prospective move, but that what occured on the pitch that day stopped any deal from going ahead.

“If I hadn’t played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them,” Barton told BBC Sport.

“There were a couple of conversations (with Wenger) but that’s different to actually signing.”

“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 joined Loftus Road on a long-term deal in the final days of the transfer window, as one of several signings made in the final week of August by manager Neil Warnock.

After the club was bought by new owner Tony Fernandes, the west Londoners also splashed out on Anton Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Luke Young and Armand Traore.

“There were a couple of offers on the table but now I’m really happy to be at QPR and in London,” Barton said.

“We play an expansive and exciting brand of football and can hopefully surprise a few people this season.”

Barton was made available on a free transfer after the Newcastle hierarchy grew tired of his complaints about the club’s board over social networking site Twitter during the off-season.