Prospective new Arsenal signing Runar Alex Runarsson may have some bridges to build at the Emirates after branding Arsene Wenger a ‘French f**k’ in now deleted tweets.
The Iceland international has emerged as a bargain replacement for Emiliano Martinez, who is on the verge of joining Aston Villa in a £20million deal that means the Gunners are in need of a new deputy to Bernd Leno.
Runarsson has been identified as the man to plug that gap, with goalkeeper coach Inaki Cana having worked with him at Nordsjaelland and current club Dijon setting a price tag of just £1.5m.
However, some eagled-eyed Arsenal fans have dug up tweets made by the Icelandic shot-stopper when he was a teenager – which Runarsson has since deleted – in which he slams the north London club’s legendary former manager.
Back in July 2011, the keeper – who appears to be a very frustrated Arsenal fan – tweeted: ‘Arsene Wenger is a little too stupid!’ and hashtagging ‘French f**k’.
It is not entirely clear what might have riled the young Runarsson, who would have been just 14 at the time, though Arsenal would sell both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri that summer.
A month later, with Fabregas now having left and Nasri primed to join Manchester City, he tweeted again, saying: ‘Arsene Wenger is definitely the dumbest man on this planet!’ and once again hashtagged the term ‘French f**k’.
That tweet also coincided with a defeat, with Arsenal having lost 2-0 at home to Liverpool the day before, and just a week later they would be ripped apart at Old Trafford, losing 8-2.
Runarsson quickly deleted the tweets after they were brought to light, with some Arsenal fans even suggesting he should not be signed as a result of the posts – though most recognise he was a young kid tweeting in anger during a difficult period for the club.
Arsenal had originally targeted Brentford’s David Raya as a replacement for Martinez, though the Championship club refused to sell, with Runarsson’s looming bargain arrival freeing up more funds to be spent on a new midfielder.
