Carl Jenkinson has rejected accusations that his move to Crystal Palace collapsed in the January transfer window due to a failure to agree personal terms with the Eagles.
The Gunner was seemed surplus to requirements by Arsene Wenger, and a transfer fee was agreed between the two clubs, but according to the Telegraph, Palace offered a “little more” than he is currently being paid at the Emirates. Speaking in an interview with the same newspaper, the 25-year-old said he thought Palace may have been a good move for him, but it just “didn’t pan out”:
“I had a great year with Big Sam [Allardyce, at West Ham], played some of the best football of my career and got on very well with him. I’ve got great respect for him as a manager. The opportunity to play under him again was something I was interested in doing. In the end it didn’t pan out.”
“It’s a culmination of things. When you do leave a club like Arsenal, everything needs to be right. It needs to be the right manager and financially – don’t get me wrong, I don’t want silly money – it needs to be right for me.”
The Telegraph also revealed however that Jenkinson would have had to take a 40% pay cut if Palace were relegated from the Premier League this season; something that could have influenced the full back’s decision to stay at Arsenal.
After a humbling 4-0 home defeat to Sunderland last week, Palace find themselves second from bottom, and level on points with the Black Cats who sit 20th.
