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    Former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny pledges to continue smoking just days after completing Barcelona transfer

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    WOJCIECH SZCZESNY has vowed not to quit smoking after signing for Barcelona.The former Arsenal goalkeeper, 34, reversed his decision to retire in order to sign for Hansi Flick’s side.Wojciech Szczesny recently came out of retirement to sign for BarcelonaCredit: ReutersThe goalkeeper will not quit smoking after joining BarcaCredit: SplashDespite re-entering high-level professional football, Szczesny is not about to give up smoking.Speaking to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, he said: “There are things that I don’t change in my personal life and it’s nobody’s business if I smoke.”I believe that it doesn’t affect what I do on the pitch, I work twice as hard.”I don’t do it in front of kids because I don’t want to have a bad influence on them.READ MORE ARSENAL NEWS”Sometimes somebody will take a photo from the trees where I have a cigarette, that’s on them, not on me.”If somebody thinks that I will change the way I am in my personal life they can think again because I am who I am. I’ve been this way my whole life.”Szczesny hung up his gloves at the end of last season following seven years at Juventus.But when Barca came calling following the serious injury suffered by their No1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Szczesny was tempted out of his brief retirement.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSThe Pole is yet to debut for his new side, with Inaki Pena having started their last four games between the sticks.Szczesny was famously caught smoking in the showers after Arsenal lost to Southampton in 2015.How Arsenal and Liverpool benefitted from VAR failures AGAIN | Ex-Premier League referee reactsArsene Wenger subsequently fined him £20,000 and dropped him from the squad.The homegrown keeper would never play for the Gunners again, joining Juventus in 2017 after a two-year loan at Roma.In 2020, Szczesny opened up on what happened during an appearance on the Arsenal Nation podcast.He said: “Back at that time I was smoking regularly and the boss knew it very well. He just didn’t want anybody smoking in the dressing rooms and I knew that also.”Because of the emotion of the game, I had a cigarette after the game when the team was still in.”I went in the corner of the showers, so it was at the other end of the dressing room and nobody could see me, and I lit one up.”Somebody saw me, it wasn’t even the boss himself, and just reported it back to the boss. I saw him a couple of days later, he asked me if that was true and I said ‘yes’.”He fined me and that was the end of it. He then said, ‘Look, you’re going to be out of the team for a little bit’, but there was no big bust-ups or big confrontations.READ MORE SUN STORIES”I was very professional about it. I was fully expecting to be back in the team a few weeks later but we had a good run of form and David Ospina, who came in goal, played really well for those few games. He stayed in.”That meant I was waiting and trying to win my place back in the team, or trying to convince him that I was still the best goalkeeper at the club by going out on loan. That sounds strange but sometimes it’s the best way of doing it.”Szczesny left Arsenal for Juventus in 2017Credit: PA:Empics Sport More

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      Wayne Rooney reveals he boozed in abandoned house and got caught with cider and cigarettes by manager at 14

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      WAYNE ROONEY has revealed the lengths he would go to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes as a teenager.And despite getting caught by academy boss Colin Harvey the former striker went on to become an icon at his boyhood club Everton.
      Wayne Rooney opened up about his drinking and smoking tactics when he was a teenager
      Rooney revealed at 14 he was caught with cider and cigarettes by his Everton academy bossCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
      When he was just 16 Rooney made his senior debut at Everton in the 2002-03 season.
      But by then he was chugging cider and lighting up cigarettes and was busted two years prior by his youth coach while crossing the road.
      After he was caught the 38-year-old said he would look for low key spots to drink including breaking into abandoned houses to do so.
      Speaking to fellow Liverpudlian Jamie Carragher on the Stick to Football podcast brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: “You Jamie Carragher know where I grew up.
      READ MORE ON ROONEY
      “It wasn’t an easy place to live but, I absolutely loved growing up there, it taught me so many different things.
      “I remember when I was 14, I was crossing the road, I think it was a Thursday or something like that, and I was playing for the U19’s on the Saturday for Everton, Colin Harvey was the manager.
      “So, I’m crossing the road, I’ve got a bag of cider, a packet of cigarettes, and a car stopped to let me cross, and it was Colin Harvey.
      “We used to go to an abandoned, empty house and we’d knock the windows through, and we’d sit in there and drink.”
      Most read in Football
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      Despite Rooney’s mischief during his teenage years he went on to have a glittering career at Manchester United.
      Raking in 12 major titles and becoming the club’s all-time record goalscorer.
      Wayne Rooney reveals his major role in wife’s Wagatha Christie trial and ‘applied to study law’ at university after case
      He then repeated the same record for England before it was broken 11 years later by Harry Kane.
      Rooney did admit the alcohol hindered his playing career and if he had stopped he may have been able to take his career to the next level.
      He continued: “When you look back, I think – and I spoke about it when I did the documentary – I had different issues, ended up drinking way too much and obviously that took its toll.
      “You can always look back and think – ‘If you didn’t do that, would you have played at an even higher level, achieved more, played for longer’ – all these questions, again, it’s hindsight.” More

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      Watch ex-Man Utd star Marcos Rojo smoke cigarette on pitch in celebration after winning cup with Boca Juniors

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      MANCHESTER UNITED flop Marcos Rojo celebrated a cup final victory with Boca Juniors by smoking during a post-match picnic with his family on the pitch.The 32-year-old seemed oblivious to the TV cameras honing in on him as he took a long drag on his cigarette before blowing out the smoke with a smile.
      Maros Rojo smoked on the pitch after the matchCredit: TNT Sports
      Rojo (right) gets his hands on the trophyCredit: Getty
      The extraordinary scene took place as he savoured a 3-0 win over Tigre on Sunday to claim the domestic Professional League Cup, a new cup which was originally named after Diego Maradona following his death in August 2020 before being renamed for legal reasons.
      The unrepentant footballer, who landed himself in hot water for smoking while he was still at Old Trafford, later took to social media to post a photo of basketball legend Michael Jordan puffing on a cigar after adding to his collection of silverware with the Chicago Bulls.
      Rojo, who scored one of the goals in Boca’s cup final win, stunned TV commentators by lighting up after eating pizza and downing beer on the pitch at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in the city of Cordoba.
      One said: “These images drive me crazy. Marcos looks so happy and relaxed. Let me enjoy himself. These moments are so important.”
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      The moment divided football fans. with one taking to social media to insist: “He could have waited till he got home. I didn’t like what I saw. A club like Boca should set an example.”
      Enraged Carlos Cardoso wrote alongside the footage: “I’m old school. He’s showing his children and club a lack of respect. He should have done it in private.”
      But self-confessed smoker Yamila Cespi insisted: “Let him celebrate the way he wants. Only a smoker can understand what I’m saying.”
      And Joaquin Amarilla added sarcastically: “Do people really think players don’t smoke, or is it just that they wait to become managers before lighting up for the first time!!!”
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      Dad-of-three Rojo was also criticised after being pictured smoking outside a nightclub in his homeland in March 2016 while he was still at United.
      He was seen playing poker and smoking with friends again in a video posted on social media and later deleted by his brother Franco two years ago when he was on loan to Estudiantes.
      United confirmed at the time they would speak to him over the apparent breach of Argentina’s lockdown rules during the Covid pandemic.
      A nationwide mandatory quarantine was in place in the South American country at the time.
      Rojo was signed by former United manager Louis van Gaal in August 19 2014 for £16million from Sporting Lisbon.
      He is regularly named as one of Old Trafford’s most expensive flops.
      He made headlines in July last year after being filmed threatening rival players with a fire extinguisher as a weapon after Boca Juniors were beaten in the Copa America by Atletico Mineiro.
      Former United teammate Andreas Herrera joked about the ugly incident on his Instagram by photoshopping the fire extinguisher into Rojo’s right hand in a snap showing him with his arm round the Argentinian defender after a Red Devils’ victory.
      Last September the Argentine raised eyebrows again by removing his face mask as he arrived at his team hotel for an away cup match – and gifting it to a young fan. More