Rohan Ricketts insists he never was involved in stealing a phone from former Arsenal teammates.

During his career Ricketts has been accused of stealing from his Arsenal team-mates.

The Shamrock Rovers midfielder told The Sun: "When I am on Twitter, people say 'you're a thief, you nicked Thierry Henry's phone' or 'you nicked Dennis Bergkamp's phone'.

"We were involved in a situation at Arsenal. A phone had disappeared but later turned up and it became public.

"My departure was used as the reason. But I was on 700 quid a week so why would I steal a phone - and also from a team-mate? I now get a lot of stick but that's fine. I left Arsenal because I knew I would not get in the team.

"I have seen Coleen Rooney's Twitter page and seen all the Wayne Rooney granny stuff. She has to deal with that.

"But you are public property. In exchange for not having to worry about the electricity bill and worrying about whether you can feed your family, you get a bit of fame and get some stick on Twitter."