Bendtner - I’m a different person now

Nicklas Bendtner says the birth of his son has had a profound impact on his life and has caused him to “change a lot”.

The Denmark international has spent the previous two seasons out on loan, at Sunderland and Juventus respectively, but is back in the Arsenal squad this term.

 The 25-year-old believes he is a different person now and puts this down to becoming a father and his experiences away from the Club.

“First of all I had a baby, which changed me a lot,” Bendtner told Arsenal Player. “I think a lot of people say that you have babies and they change you but for me I could really feel a big difference to my life.

“Being abroad showed me a lot of different things and different aspects of how to live and how to cope with problems and things like that. I think that has given me a lot more as a man.”

Bendtner insists that the wider perception of him is wrong, and feels that some of his previous statements have been misinterpreted.

“I don't like that I keep getting put up on comments I've made which have been wrongly said - that I still to this day have to see it and listen to it,” he said.

“If people don't like me, that's fair enough. If people can't accept that sometimes you're young and make mistakes and move on, that's not up to me.

“I try to do my best and that's basically all I can do for my family and my friends and everyone around the Club.

“I think every football player wants to achieve the [most] within what he can do. That’s what makes you. If you have a dream and try to do everything you can to be the best that you can, that's you trying to make the best out of your job or what you do.

“I basically said that I think that anybody who plays football in the world would love to be the best. I think that's a normal statement and that got [changed] to me saying that I was the best player in the world.

“I don't know where that came from. I still listen to it now and again and still see it. If people want to believe that, then that's that.”