Toure admitted he was leaving Arsenal

Kolo Toure last night admitted he came close to quitting Arsenal in January because he had lost his first-team place. The Ivory Coast defender said: “Many problems occurred and made me want to move on”, The Sun reported.

The Gunners skipper, 27, also confirmed he does not get on with William Gallas. He added: “It’s just a professional relationship. Once we are on the pitch we try to keep a professional attitude and to communicate. We never got on well together.

“It’s the same within every company, you can’t be friends with everybody.”