The Arsenal-Tottenham rivalry never seemed to run deeper or dirtier than 2001/02.
Arsenal had signed up former Spurs fan-favourite Sol Campbell for free after he allowed his contract to run down and rejected a chance to become the highest paid player at White Hart Lane.
During it all, as Arsenal steamed towards the league title and Tottenham floundered in mid-table, 21-year-old defender Ledley King was making a name for himself. King made 23 appearances for Spurs that season and gave supporters hope that the irreplaceable Campbell could indeed be replaced.
It may come as a massive surprise, then, to learn the Gunners had actually considered making a move for King. The Spurs legend told Football Friday: Live:
“There were rumours, yeah. It was just after Sol left so that, obviously, was never going to happen. I saw the response Sol got as well!
“No, I was never going to leave and especially not to join Arsenal.
“But I’ve always had a lot of respect for Arsene. I think he is a top manager.”
Respect him as he did, King was not seriously tempted to cross the North London divide. He also rejected the advances of Chelsea around the same time and played 13 seasons for Tottenham before retiring, in 2012, as a one-club man.
King also recalled the time Wenger squared off against former Tottenham boss Martin Jol.
“I don’t think it would have ended well for Arsene, to be quite honest with you, looking at the size of him and the size of Martin,” said King.
“But maybe Arsene knows something about himself that we don’t.”
Precision beats power? Timing beats speed?
We wouldn’t put anything past Wenger.
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