10 of the most outspoken footballers 

#2: Nicklas Bendtner

Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner wasn't shy when it came to bragging

There’s perhaps nothing more hilarious to fans than an athlete who has a massively inflated opinion of themselves, and in football there’s been no better example in that sense than Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner. Despite playing largely a bit-part at Arsenal over the course of his 7 seasons there, he never stopped believing he could be – or already was – the best striker in the world.

A 2010 interview saw him claim he wasn’t overconfident – before going on to state that he was one of the best strikers in the world, even if he still needed to improve in some areas. When asked about his place in the Arsenal line-up he claimed he ought to be playing every minute of every match, and famously, he claimed clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid could offer him the playing time he required.

Unfortunately Bendtner never made a move to Spain – instead he left Arsenal for loan moves to Sunderland and Juventus – where he only made 11 appearances – and then ended up at Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest. In 2016 he seemed to regret his outspoken nature, but then stated that he wasn’t ashamed of having such lofty goals even if he didn’t reach them in the end, which is almost fair.