Arsenal icon Sol Campbell has revealed how close he came to potentially joining Manchester United, while former Red Devils captain Gary Neville did his utmost to force the transfer through
Former Arsenal and England talisman Sol Campbell has revealed how a potential transfer to Manchester United was “blocked”. The Three Lions legend was in the midst of his nine-year stay at Tottenham when United raised an interest in his services.
Campbell has now revealed how England team-mate Gary Neville even called him up in an effort to make the transfer happen. However, Campbell is convinced Tottenham’s former part-owner and chairman, Alan Sugar, had a hand in stopping the move coming to fruition.
But that intervention ended up having a hand in the player later joining Spurs’ bitter rivals Arsenal instead – a move that has gone down as one of the most traitorous in Premier League history and earned him the nickname ‘Judas’ among Tottenham supporters.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Campbell claimed: “You [Neville] bloody called me! I remember, I was having an afternoon nap, and the phone call came through and Gary asked me if I fancied United.
“I must have been about 21 then… it did go further (the transfer talks), but Sugar blocked it.”
Asked whether he got along with the ex-Spurs chairman, Campbell replied: “A lot of players have had difficult times with him.” His career could have looked a lot different had The Apprentice supremo not stood in the way.
In 2001, Campbell’s Tottenham contract reached its expiration date. And despite Spurs’ offers to make him the highest-paid player in club history at the time, he opted to once again ignore international interest and moved to Highbury.
On one hand, losing Campbell in the mid-90s when Neville made his approach could have led to far inferior results in the years that followed. But on the other, it would have meant they at least prevented one of their most treasured assets from moving down the road and joining the Gunners.
If the timings are to be believed, Sir Alex Ferguson’s alleged interest in Campbell would have come at a time when Steve Bruce was in the final stages of his Old Trafford career. It was around that time David May was brought in to help partner Gary Pallister in central defence, while Ronny Johnsen also brought reinforcements in 1996.
Campbell, 50, won the League Cup with Tottenham in 1999 but went on to achieve much bigger and better things as an Arsenal player. He lifted two FA Cups and two Premier League titles, the second of which saw him star as an essential cog in the ‘Invincibles’ team that went undefeated during the 2003/04 season.
When asked which clubs came in for him during the last six months of that final Spurs deal, Campbell replied: “Bayern came in really earlier, but you don’t know – is it a newspaper phoning you up? Back in those days, you didn’t know.
“Liverpool came down, but the manager didn’t come for the meeting. I went to Inter, had a chat with them. Barcelona came in at the end, but you just don’t know, it’s all propaganda. Arsenal obviously came in at the end.”
After five seasons with Arsenal, Campbell joined Portsmouth as he saw out the last of his prime playing years. He later spent short-term stints with Notts County, Newcastle and a brief return to Arsenal before hanging up his boots for good in 2011.
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