David Moyes has denied reports of a public spat between him and Diafra Sakho, insisting that the Senegal international was benched against Arsenal "purely for football reasons".
It was reported after the match had finished (1-0 in Arsenal's favour) that Sakho had threatened to walk out of The Emirates after learning that was starting on the bench against the Gunners.Embed from Getty Images
However Moyes has denied reports of a bust-up with Sakho - who had previously fallen out with Moyes' predecessor Slaven Bilic - whilst insisting that there had been no row, despite several reports to the contrary.
"I was dumbfounded when I heard there had been reports of a row between Diafra Sakho and myself before the Arsenal match," Moyes wrote in his weekly column for the Standard.
"I can say categorically there have never been any cross words with Diafra since I’ve been at the club and I have been pleased with his performances when he has come off the bench in games.
"He has never been in to see me about anything since I’ve been at the club so I was amazed when I was told about the allegations. I don’t know where these allegations originated but certainly I wasn’t aware of any of it until it was brought to my attention."
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And the manager also refrained from commenting on suggestions that the wantaway Sakho's contract contains a £50,000 bonus should he be included in the starting XI and half that should he come on as a substitute.
"I understand that details about bonus payments have also been in the public domain," he added. "I’m certainly not going to comment on that - financial details of a player's contract are between him and the club.
"The boys up front have done well up to now and Diafra has played his part in that. We like his mobility and he weighed in with an important goal at Stoke last Saturday.
"The decision to start with Chicharito and Andre Ayew, rather than Diafra, on Tuesday, was based purely on football considerations and nothing else."
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