Wenger surprised Bendtner joined Forest

Liam Hanna 7 years ago 1.5k
Bendtner celebrates scoring a goal for former club Wolfsburg. AFP

Arsene Wenger said that he was surprised that his former striker Nicklas Bendtner dropped down to the Championship to join Nottingham Forest, but said the Dane does need to restart his career.

Bendtner played for Arsenal for nine years and scored a total of 47 goals in 171 games for the Gunners.

The Dane once famously claimed that he wanted to become the best striker in the world, but unfortunately for the former Arsenal man, his career never took of as he would have liked.

The striker was released by Arsenal in 2014, and then joined Wolfsburg, but could only manage nine goals in two seasons before being released once again.

Bendtner then made the decision to join Nottingham Forest in September, something that surprised his former boss.

"It was a surprise to me that Nicklas signed for Nottingham Forest, but at some stage Nicklas needs to restart his career," Wenger said, speaking ahead of Arsenal's EFL Cup tie against Forest.

"Of course he has a point to prove - he's playing at a level where he is not used to. But he did start his career at this level at Birmingham City with Steve Bruce, where he did very well".

Wenger also believes that the striker is not over confident, and if anything, is just impatient.

"The perceptions people have of him is that he is over confident but I don't think so. He was sometimes impatient when he was with us. He was disappointed not to get the chance and you can understand that," the Frenchman added.

Mentioned in the news story

Carabao Cup
Nicklas Bendtner
Nottingham Forest