Mo Farah 'cant wait' to attend Arsenal games after Alberto Salazar split

Mo Farah believes a split with Alberto Salazar is the right move in his bid to emulate his track success on the roads — starting on the streets of London next April.

Farah announced last night he was ending his six-year-association with the controversial American, which led to four Olympic golds and six world titles, and will team up with Gary Lough, the husband and former coach of marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe.

“I can’t wait to be back home and can’t wait to see my team Arsenal at the Emirates,” Farah said in a video on Twitter.

“I chose to work with Gary over others because I’ve known him for a very long time – since I was 16 – and we get on well,” Farah added in an interview with The Sun.

“Gary successfully coached Paula Radcliffe, Britain’s greatest-ever marathon runner, who I’ve always looked up to since I was a kid, and has an in-depth understanding of what is needed to achieve real results at marathon distance.

“I wanted someone who not only has that experience but who is also going to be able to drill down into the fine detail to help me to be the very best I can be.”

Farah made just one foray into the marathon while working with Salazar — in 2014 — but struggled to make the transition to the road and finished a disappointing eighth in London when he had been targeting Steve Jones’ long-standing British record.

The 34-year-old, whose next big race is next year’s London Marathon, has slowly distanced himself from Salazar, with whom he started working in 2011.

The American was absent from the World Championships in London but Farah insisted that and the subsequent split had nothing to do with the ongoing United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation into Salazar. “I’m not leaving the Nike Oregon Project and Alberto Salazar because of the doping allegations,” Farah stressed.

Salazar has offered to continue to work in an advisory role with Farah, who approached Lough straight after the World Championships.

Farah quit the track after a gold and silver medal at the London Stadium in August and last night announced he was relocating back to his home city from Portland, Oregon.

Of the end of his relationship with Salazar, he said: “I’ll no longer be working with Alberto Salazar and Oregon Project. I want to thank each member there for what they’ve done over the years.

“But I’m coming back. I’m very excited to start a new project, a new start. I can’t wait to be back home.”