Arsene Wenger was as impressed as any bystander by former Arsenal youngster Kyle Bartley's performance for Swansea against his old side at the weekend, but the Frenchman says there was no way he could stay with the club as he pushed for more game time.

The Gunners drew 2-2 with Swansea to force a replay in the FA Cup, and Bartley's performance was ever important with the side going into the match as underdogs.

the 21 year old made the move from Arsenal to the Swans in the summer, and since then he has made two appearances for the club. And Wenger says he will be hungry to keep building game time as his impatience drove him away from the Emirates in the first place.

"He had a good game," Wenger said, according to Local World. "He has a bit of a lack of experience and he was especially impatient.

"I could not promise to play him much because of the number of centre-backs we have and, as sometimes happens with players who go out on loan, he didn't want to wait when he came back to us.

"He has not played much for Swansea because he got injured, but I know he has the quality - that's why I signed him when he was 16 from Bolton."

Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger says he couldn't keep Kyle Bartley, with the youngster demanding too much playing time at Arsenal.

Arsenal lost a large deal of talent in the 2012 summer, particularly in the likes of Robin van Persie and Alex Song.

But with five youngsters signing new deals with the club since, including Jack Wilshere, and Theo Walcott still in talks over extending his contract with the club, this year looks to have started on a brighter note transfer wise than in seasons past.

But the results have still been far from the club's best under the manager's 16 year-long reign, and their draw to Swansea was particularly displeasing as he looks to end the side's seven year-long trophyless run.

"We should have won," Wenger argued. "The second half was much more open than the first. We created many chances and then found ourselves 1-0 down.

"But we showed character and quality to get in front and unfortunately then we lacked calmness and focus at a corner and they equalised.

"We created many chances, but their keeper kept them in it. It's frustrating that we now have a replay, but I would prefer that to being out and Swansea have to play many games as well."