Arsene Wenger has warned West Ham manager Alan Pardew that his complaints about the lack of British players in the Arsenal team smacked of racism.

After Arsenal beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, Pardew criticised the Frenchman's reliance on foreign players. Arsenal have played nearly 700 minutes of football since an English player last appeared for the London club.

"I saw a headline saying Arsenal are flying the flag for Britain in the Champions League, but I had to wonder where that British involvement was when I saw the team," Pardew said.

An angry Wenger said he was concerned only by the quality of a player and not by his nationality.

"Yes, it's really disappointing," said Wenger when questioned about Pardew's comments.

"For two reasons - first, we are kicking racism out of football and racism starts there.

"The second part is that when you are manager, players accept the technical opinion of a manager, but not that kind of remarks.

"It's very, very disappointing to hear that because it is a regressive way of thinking. I never would like to say to a player: 'Sorry, you are better, but you're not playing because you don't have the right passport'."

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