How Arsene Wenger shocked football by signing Sol Campbell for Arsenal

Wenger unveils Campbell as an Arsenal player in 2001
Getty Images
Tom Doyle4 July 2017

It's not every day that a club signs one of their rival's stars, but when it does happen, you should celebrate in style.

Arsenal lured Tottenham centre-back Sol Campbell across the north London divide to the consternation of Spurs fans back in 2001, with the England international joining Arsene Wenger's Gunners on a free transfer after his White Hart Lane contract expired.

Campbell went on win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal, forming part of the 2003-04 'Invincibles' side that went unbeaten in the top flight.

Most modern-day transfers are carefully choreographed affairs between clubs, sponsors and players, but Wenger took great delight in springing a surprise on the press on July 3, 16 years ago.

With a handful of reporters awaiting the expected unveiling of goalkeeper Richard Wright from Everton, they got a little more than they bargained for as Campbell was revealed as an Arsenal player.

Campbell coup: Wenger got his man

"We had an agreement that never came out," Wenger told the club's official website. "I remember his press conference, when I said we will announce a player.

"Nobody turned up. It was here at the training ground.

"There were only two press people here. I will never forget the press' faces when Sol came in.

'Sol Campbell from Tottenham'... they couldn’t believe it!

"Sol definitely knew before the last week [of his contract] that he was signing for us. At least, before that he promised to sign for us."

Wenger acknowledges that while Campbell took a risk in signing for Arsenal - with Spurs fans turning on him instantly and forever since, also missing out on an invite to the club's White Hart Lane farewell - the defender had the character and confidence to make such a move a success.

Getty Images

"I realised [how significant it was] when we played our first game at Tottenham," he added. "It was difficult for him but this man is not afraid of big decisions."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in