Manuel Almunia has admitted that he was so frustrated by his lack of opportunities that wanted to leave Arsenal a fortnight ago.
The Spanish goalkeeper was close to returning to his homeland in search of a regular starting place but says his world has been turned upside down by Jens Lehmann's achilles injury.
Almunia, 30, who kept his second consecutive clean sheet last night against Sparta Prague, said: "Two weeks ago I was thinking about leaving. It's very frustrating when you have the role of the second goalkeeper, or you are the cup goalkeeper.
"Now, though, I have the possibility of a few more games and I am much more happy. My life is different now. In one day, everything changes."
Almunia explained that he had a heart-to-heart with Arsene Wenger at the end of last season and decided to stay on and fight for the No1 jersey.
He added: "In the summer I said no to a few teams from Spain but when the season started and I wasn't playing, I was thinking of leaving.
"Three years without playing is very frustrating. It's hard when you just look for when the next cup game is. Every morning I woke up and thought, 'I won't play until September'.
"I have spent a long time waiting for my chance. I want to play and one solution was to return to Spain.
"The teams interested in me are medium-sized but I would have been playing. So I thought I would be happier than I was here. Now, though, everything has changed."
Wth? Then what if Lehmann's okay and is back for the number one spot? He will leave? that's...an absurd thing to say from almunia
