In late 2007, a young Danish man began to make a real name for himself at the Emirates.
Nicklas Bendtner will never go down as one of the Arsenal greats, but for a short while, he looked capable of having a strong first-team career. After joining the club, he spent time on loan with Birmingham City, where he scored the goals that helped elevate them to the Premier League. He returned to the Emirates, bagged in pre-season against PSG, then forged himself a reputation in the first team.
His first professional goal in Arsenal colours came against Newcastle in the League Cup before he netted a last-minute goal for the Gunners in a 7-0 demolition job against Slavia Prague in the Champions League. Before Christmas, he wrote himself into the record books, nodding home a winner just 1.8 seconds after coming on in the Premier League. To cap the feat off, it gave Arsene Wenger’s side a 2-1 win against none other than North London rivals, Spurs.
That was 14 years ago, and this year Bendtner officially retired from football at the age of 33. His career is an example of how over-confidence and a poor attitude can lead to destruction and a warning to all young footballers out there. At one point, the forward said, “If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I say yes because I believe it.” He told Eurosport.com he regretted those comments but regrets litter about his career.
He perhaps regrets the time he went out on loan to Sunderland seeking to resurrect his failing career but ended up in trouble with the police on more than one occasion. He was arrested for criminal damage after an alleged car-wrecking spree over Christmas 2011 and being detained by police, then released without charge after the incident at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead Hotel three months previous. It’s fair to say Sunderland didn’t seem too keen on retaining his services after that, and his Arsenal career had already faltered.
Earlier that summer, his promising career had begun to spiral out of control. He had found the roulette tables of London and admitted to The Guardian that he lost £400,000 in 90 minutes. He realised losing the money could bankrupt him, so he headed to the toilets, splashed water on his face and got another £50,000 worth of chips. “I became too fond of the lifestyle that came with the money,” he said. “I want to go back in time and hit that young lad on the head with a hammer. Make him understand what a chance it is. That he has something special – something he has to look after.”
Sadly, he didn’t look after it, and even as an older man, the lure of gaming drew him in. He admits spells out injured left him chasing the highs of scoring against Spurs, but they rarely came. Even as his career took in the likes of Juventus, he was seeking solace around poker tables. “I’ve played a lot of poker in my life. I’ve been playing against a professional poker player since I was 19. It is difficult to put an amount on how much I have lost, but it is around 50 million Danish crowns – £6 million.” Poker.org explains how pulling off a poker angle shoot is one way to get ridiculed at the tables, but losing more than £6m is surely another. Bendtner now ridicules himself for such actions, but he doesn’t believe it was ever a problem. “I wouldn’t say I’ve had a gambling problem at all. I’ve always been able to control it,” he added, perhaps trying to convince himself more than anyone.
Sadly, whether he had an issue with poker, roulette and law enforcement or not, it did affect his career badly. After leaving Arsenal, he had transfers to Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Rosenberg and Copenhagen, none of which brought success. He did do well in a Denmark shirt, but only moderately, never living up to his own billing as the greatest striker in the world. Instead, he plans a career in coaching and believes his experiences will stand him in good stead for helping others. “I think it will be one of my strengths. I will have the awareness about where people might be in their lives as I’ve experienced it myself. I’m also lucky to have played under some great managers, so maybe I am one step ahead in some ways.”
Sadly, the very best of those managers, Arsene Wenger, couldn’t quite coax the special footballer out from underneath the self-destructing youngster.