Sol Campbell 'won't apologise for leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Arsenal'

By Joe Fish, Reporter | 14 March 2014

Sol Campbell will not apologise for leaving Spurs for their London rivals Arsenal because he felt that they were not matching his ambition to take the club forward.

Sol Campbell remains unapologetic over leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Arsenal as he insists that he gave Spurs enough chances to give him a new deal.

The 73-times capped England international shocked the footballing world when he left his boyhood club on a free transfer in 2001 to sign for their bitter London rivals.

Campbell had spent nine years at Tottenham and, even though the Lillywhites reportedly promised to make him one of their highest earners, he became the first man to move between the clubs in 23 years.

The defender is now an unpopular figure at White Hart Lane, but he has stressed that was willing to stay if Spurs matched his ambition to take the club forward during their contract negotiations.

"To the Spurs fans who maybe have a little bit more warmth for me I'd apologise for the way it happened, but I'm not going to apologise for the move," Campbell told Sky Sports News.

"If [Tottenham] had really wanted to worry about me they would have signed me up for two years like the rest of the lads. They always seemed to say he was over there, he's going nowhere and that's it. I tried to move the club on. Even in the last knockings of the contract talks I said 'here's a contract'.

"I gave them a four-year contract with a one-year break clause, and I said 'I'll give you one more year at this rate'. Basically, I'm saying if they can pay me this maybe they can bring in other guys like me on this kind of rate, to move the club on."

Campbell's two former Premier League clubs meet in the North London derby on Sunday.