Former Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo admits he was hampered by unrealistic expectations and a series of disappointing loans.
Signed from Auxerre by Arsene Wenger, Sanogo enjoyed an exciting cameo in Arsenal's FA Cup win over Hull City in 2014.
But subsequent loans at Crystal Palace, Charlton Athletic and Ajax were a miserable failure for Sanogo, and he left the Gunners for Toulouse in 2017.
Speaking to France Football, Sanogo said: "I asked him [Arsene Wenger] to go on loan," he said of his temporary switch to Palace in 2015. "He told me [I could go] a little later, but I think he was disappointed. He accepted it with difficulty. It was 'okay', but he was not very happy.
"It bubbled in me. I wanted to go on loan. It's not that I wanted to leave, but I wanted to play more. Hence my lack of patience. I went into the total unknown at clubs where I did not know if the coaches really wanted me. That is when I saw how the loans were going. I did not handle it well.
"He told me not to go on loan. But, you know, when you are 20 or 21 years old... you do not know, you just want to play. You do not know how the world of football works yet. You do not have the codes yet. So, it happened like it happened.
"And then there were the injuries. When you're there just for a loan, they do not consider you the same. And then you're not especially good when you are given the opportunity."
He added: "Frankly, the press builds up who it wants!
"I did not choose that. I did not tell them to write my name. I did not ask for anything. I heard, I saw some things. But I told myself that I did not control anything. You cannot control it.
"For me, I was not a phenomenon, in the sense that I just did my job."
