Arsenal academy chief Per Mertesacker admits Arsene Wenger's decision to leave last season took the players by surprise.

Mertesacker was club captain in Wenger's last season in charge.

He recalled to Spox: "It was very surprising for us. He arrived at a meeting and told us that he had decided with the directors to leave at the end of the season.

"It was a very sad moment. I had this feeling that I contributed to that. His departure is also the fault of the players because we had a lot of opportunities to get better results. We failed while he supported us all the time.

"I was the first to feel the need to say something and said that I deeply regretted it. It was important for him to see that we had something to say as a group and we were supportive."