Arsenal loanee Mattéo Guendouzi said he needed to play and enjoy himself on the pitch once more after joining Hertha Berlin for the season.
The 21-year-old had fallen out of favour with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta after lashing out at Brighton's Neal Maupay in June.
After failing to make amends with Arteta last season, he was forced to train alone for the remainder of the campaign.
According to The Metro, Arsenal technical director Edu insisted that the young Frenchman and Lucas Torreira, who was loaned out to Atletico Madrid, were not forced out of the club.
Guendouzi was then loaned out to the German side but as revealed by football.london, Hertha will not be paying a loan fee for him but will cover his wages.
Speaking after France Under-21s' 5-0 victory over Liechtenstein's under-21s, Guendouzi spoke about his need to get regular game time and didn't rule out an Arsenal return.
"It is not that," Guendouzi said when asked whether remaining at Arsenal was no longer possible.
"I just really needed to play this year, a new challenge. That was the most important thing for me.
"I am still young, I am only 21, so playing time was the top priority for me. So Hertha Berlin, I know that I will be able to express myself in a magnificent league."
After failing to work his way back into Arteta's starting 11 at Arsenal, Guendouzi said he is determined to make a mark in the Bundesliga at Hertha Berlin.
"They are a very good club with big ambitions," he said.
"So, I have left to go on loan there for a year, so I will give everything I can for this club.
"I needed playing time, I need to play, I needed to enjoy myself on the pitch and that is what I am going to do this year."
Guendouzi was one of two midfield exits from Arsenal, with Torreira the other as the Gunners made a deadline day swoop for Atletico star Thomas Partey.
Edu previously confirmed to Arsenal.com it was all down to getting more minutes on the pitch.
"The market situation was really strange," he said. "It was difficult to manage well because nobody was 100% comfortable to do the deals.
"Even loan players or to swap players was even more difficult.
"I think we did it quite well. If you see Lucas Torreira, if you see Matteo I think for them it was really really important to move, play more games, be more comfortable and happier because both came to me and Mikel to talk about the possibility to go to have more game and play more minutes."
