Szczesny Reveals Why He Left Arsenal

It was not the first time Szczesny had been caught smoking either as he was twice pictured with a cigarette in 2013.

The 30-year-old has insisted that Arsene Wenger was livid about his actions moments after he made two costly errors at the St Mary’s which gifted the Saints a vital win on New Year’s Day.

Szczesny made over 180 appearances for the North Londoners before joining Juventus in the summer of 2017, but the game against Southampton two years earlier proved to be his final Premier League match for Arsenal.

"Back at that time I was smoking regularly and the boss knew it very well," he told the Arsenal Nation podcast.

"He just didn't want anybody smoking in the dressing rooms and I knew that also.”

"Because of the emotion of the game, I had a cigarette after the game when the team was still in.”

"I went in the corner of the showers, so it was at the other end of the dressing room and nobody could see me, and I lit one up."

He was later fined £20,000 by the club for smoking and was dropped to the bench for the rest of the Premier League season, with Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina replacing him in goal.

"Somebody saw me, it wasn't even the boss himself, and just reported it back to the boss. I saw him a couple of days later, he asked me if that was true and I said, 'Yes'. He fined me and that was the end of it," Szczesny added.

"He then said, 'Look, you're going to be out of the team for a little bit' but there was no big bust-ups or big confrontations. I was very professional about it.

"I was fully expecting to be back in the team a few weeks later but we had a good run of form and David Ospina, who came in goal, played really well for those few games. He stayed in.

"That meant I was waiting and trying to win my place back in the team, or trying to convince him that I was still the best goalkeeper at the club by going out on loan.”

"That sounds strange but sometimes it's the best way of doing it."