Wenger believes Gallas always received "an exaggerated bad reputation". The 33-year-old - who joined the Gunners as part of the deal which took England full-back Ashley Cole to Chelsea on deadline day in August 2006 - was a free agent after failing to agree terms on a contract extension at the Emirates Stadium. While few doubted his ability, French defender Gallas' temperament was debated. He famously broke down in the centre circle at Birmingham February 2008 on the day Eduardo suffered his horrific broken leg. Wenger also stripped Gallas of the captaincy, replacing him with Cesc Fabregas, for publicly questioning the character of the young Arsenal squad. However, the Gunners boss maintained there were no lingering hard feelings. "William has an exaggerated bad reputation. I believe that he is a genuine winner," said the Arsenal manager. "He wants things not to be done at 90% and is completely focused and motivated to win. "He can be sometimes, a little bit brutal or impulsive in his reaction - but when you are a manager, he is not someone who talks behind your back. "William is somebody who is straight and is completely focused on the game. You respect that." Wenger added: "The Spurs move is a surprise, but I can completely understand that. "At the moment he looks for a club, he is free, he has chosen the best possible option for him. "We are thankful for what he has done for us and we wish him good luck in his new club." Gallas' wage demands - reported to be £80,000-a-week - were said to be one block to a new deal with the Gunners, who were also understood to have only been offering a 12-month extension. Wenger was keen for Gallas to remain to add experience to the young squad, but accepted it was just bad timing which saw him turn attentions elsewhere, eventually signing 24-year-old promising centre-back Laurent Koscielny from Lorient and it now appears a move for veteran Sevilla defender Sebastien Squillaci could soon be completed. "It was more down to timing why William left," Wenger reflected. "We had not found an agreement towards the end of the season and then I turned somewhere else. "I focused completely on signing Koscielny and it took me a long, long time to do that. "You have to turn somewhere else and now we trust Koscielny, [Johan] Djourou, [Thomas] Vermaelen and [Alex] Song." Wenger rejected suggestions Gallas could come back to haunt his old club. "There is just a little bit of a risk that he is a bit more exposed in the derby, but we have seen that before," he said. With veterans Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre also leaving at the end of their contracts, while out-of-favour Philippe Senderos moved to Fulham, Arsenal are a bit short on defensive cover. Wenger added: "We have done something - we bough Koscielny and we are still looking for one more body. "Don't forget, last year we did not have Djourou available for the whole of last season. "He will be available now so if we find one more player, we will be okay and will have the same numbers as last year."
