While some rivals in world football are happy to trade with each other, we really don’t see any players moving between Arsenal and Spurs.
That was shattered in 2001 when Sol Campbell made the shock move to leave Spurs for Arsenal, but he does have to go down as one of Arsene Wenger’s best ever signings.
He played in almost 200 games during his five seasons with the club, he was a key member of the invincible side who went an entire Premier League season without defeat and he even scored the goal that put them ahead against Barcelona in the Champions League final to make an unlikely victory look possible.
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You would expect that Wenger would be delighted with the transfer and how it worked out, but a report from 11 Freunde has indicated that he has some regrets about the move.
They interviewed Wenger about a variety of topics and Sol Campbell was discussed, and it looks like the legendary manager isn’t happy about the personal abuse that the defender received as a result:
“I knew that it would cause heated debates in London, but I was truly convinced by the player. I thought he was capable of facing the adversity. For me, it was easy because everybody was conscious that I had signed a great player. But for him, it was more complicated.
“The situation was really stressful for Sol and he told me afterwards how severe it became. He couldn’t go to certain places for dinner or walk freely in London because of the anger of the Tottenham fans. In hindsight, I’m not sure if I would sign him again bearing in mind the difficulties he faced.”
Clearly his feelings have nothing to do with Campbell’s ability as a player because he was phenomenal on the pitch, but it’s a shame to hear how badly he was affected by the move.