The 29-year-old claims his involvement in Gervinho’s sending-off on the opening day of the season cost him a move to the Emirates Stadium. The incident happened while Barton was playing for his former club, Newcastle.
He said: “If I hadn’t played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them.
“There were a couple of conversations (with Wenger) but that’s different to actually signing.
“The Gervinho incident happened and there’s nothing I can do about it now.
“If it happened again, I’d like to think I’d deal with it differently.
“Things happen for a reason and there’s a lesson to be learned from it. Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table – hopefully that’s the case in May.”
He added: “There were a couple of offers on the table but now I’m really happy to be at QPR and in London.
“We play an expansive and exciting brand of football and can hopefully surprise a few people this season.”
