Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declared he always knew Matthew Upson would have had a brilliant career, despite letting him go when he was with the North London club.

Speaking on the 30-year old, the Frenchman said:

I knew when he left that he would make a big career, but at that moment when Matthew was here, he was impatient.

That I could understand as well because I bought him at Luton and after a few years he didn’t play here.

I didn’t stop him [going] because I knew he had qualities to play in the Premiership, but he had players in front of him that stopped him.

I knew he would make it. He had Premiership quality and had the potential to be international quality.

He is there now because he is at the right age for a central defender and for a few years now he has not been stopped by injury which was his problem for a while.

With the England International facing Arsenal this Sunday in West Ham’s colours, he joins Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry as ex-Arsenal player who could have made or could make a comeback at Arsenal.

On this, Wenger added:

Yes, he was always in my mind. Upson has good quality, good attitude, good spirit.

But of course this is not the best moment to talk about that because he is a player at West Ham. Three, four, five years ago yes, but now he is settled and has a good career where he is.