Former Arsenal striker, Nicklas Bendtner, has revealed his addiction to gambling and betting during his early playing days at the English club.

Bendtner, from Denmark, emerged from Arsenal’s academy 15 years ago and despite the controversies that surrounded his career he still managed 81 appearances for Denmark, scoring an impressive 30 times and represented his country at Euro 2012 and the World Cup in 2010.

Speaking on his Danish reality television show alongside his model girlfriend, Philine Roepstorff, Bendtner revealed his betting and gambling habits and how he now bets smaller amounts.

He told viewers that he blew large portions of his wages on poker as a 19-year-old boy but has learnt from his mistakes. 

“It’s hard to say how much it was in reality, but I’d estimate that it was almost 50 million Korona (around £5.4m). It was something that I was always in control of and I simply betted big sums of money.

‘Sometimes in London, things would get out of control on a night and things could really have ended badly

‘Now I place smaller bets of 100 Korona (around £12).’