Ex-Spurs director lifts lid on Sol Campbell's Arsenal move

Updated: 09 Oct, 2024 • 0 • min read

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Ex-Spurs director lifts lid on Sol Campbell's Arsenal move

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Former Tottenham Hotspur director of football David Pleat has revealed there was nothing they could do to stop Sol Campbell from joining Arsenal in 2001.

Tottenham's club captain at the time, the England international was one of the best centre-backs in the world.

Trophies were the ultimate objective for Campbell, but he didn't feel Tottenham could help him deliver that ambition.

At the end of the 2000/01 campaign, Spurs finished 12th, whilst bitter rivals Arsenal finished second - 10 points behind champions Manchester United.

Despite the disappointing position, Tottenham were confident their skipper would renew his expiring deal and offered him a contract which would have made him the club's highest-ever paid player.

However, Campbell opted to move on and shocked the Premier League when he decided to leave his boyhood club and join bitter rivals Arsenal on a free transfer.

READ MORE: Arsène Wenger recalls how Sol Campbell quietly signed for Arsenal in 2001

Speaking to FourFourTwo, Pleat recalled:

We did everything we could, but there was no chance - what he was going to get at Arsenal was way out of our range.

To be fair to Sol, I'd met him previously with [Alan] Sugar, and Sol believed we weren't spending enough to get better players in. I told him that it isn't always possible and you have to be patient.

I found him a decent guy. But he decided that he needed to move for his own career.

Later, Sugar said, "You and [Sprs manager] George Graham were so stupid! You should have kept him out of the team and he would have signed because he would've lost his England place."

Myself and George had decided that we weren't going to leave him out and cut our nose off to spite our face. He was the best centre-half we had.

Before making the switch to the other side of north London, Campbell made 303 appearances over a nine-year period after progressing from the club's academy.