{"id":1330,"date":"2026-04-09T11:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:01:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:01:44","slug":"it-was-massive-gary-neville-picks-arsenal-signing-as-most-shocking-transfer-in-premier-league-ian-wright-and-wayne-rooney-agree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=1330","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt was massive\u201d &#8211; Gary Neville picks Arsenal signing as most shocking transfer in Premier League; Ian Wright and Wayne Rooney agree"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5151216\" data-slug-id=\"2764739\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gary Neville has named Sol Campbell\u2019s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal as the most shocking transfer he has ever seen in the Premier League, with both Ian Wright and Wayne Rooney agreeing.<\/p>\n<p>Dubbed one of the most controversial moves in Premier League history, Campbell joined Tottenham&#8217;s biggest rivals, Arsenal, in 2001, a switch that further deepened the rivalry between the two clubs.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Speaking in a recent episode of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XZ89EoQ-Rys&amp;list=PLfikCHtGjo4l2AJbpkgkmFOxgIQBc9Pn2&amp;index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">The Overlap\u2019s Stick to Football<\/a>Neville highlighted several blockbuster Premier League transfers, including Carlos Tevez\u2019s move from Manchester United to Manchester City and Raheem Sterling\u2019s move from Liverpool to Manchester City.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSol\u2019s the biggest transfer I think I\u2019ve ever seen, in shocks. In shocks, it was massive,\u201d Neville said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>When Neville mentioned Campbell\u2019s north London switch, Wright claimed it is the \u2018number one\u2019 in the history of the league, while Rooney also concurred, calling it\u2019s one of the biggest transfers.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell spent five seasons with the Gunners before leaving in 2006 to join Portsmouth on a free transfer. However, he rejoined Arsenal in 2010 and spent six months there before moving to Newcastle, where he eventually retired.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>When Campbell revealed why he left Tottenham for Arsenal<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Campbell\u2019s shock move to Arsenal did not sit well with several Tottenham fans, as he was labeled \u2018Judas\u2019 by some Spurs supporters. Prior to his departure, the former defender made several public assurances to stay at Tottenham.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell\u2019s contract with Spurs had expired, and he was reportedly offered a contract that would have made him the club\u2019s highest-ever-paid player at the time, but he chose to join Spurs\u2019 bitter rivals as a free agent.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vv1w2I5oWLo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Sky Sports<\/a><\/em>  in 2019, Campbell said he joined the Gunners because he wanted to win trophies and compete at the highest level.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI wanted to win things. It\u2019s all about winning at the end of the day. If everything goes away what you\u2019re left with is what you want,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Reflecting on his time at both clubs, Campbell stated that Arsenal were the better team and had better players, which he claimed pushed him to raise his game.<\/p>\n<p>During an appearance on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/oVPbRF5Rwl4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">The Overlap<\/a><\/em>  in 2025, the former England international reteirated why he left Spurs, saying he wanted to win.<\/p>\n<p>Campbell\u2019s decision to leave Spurs for Highbury aged well as he won six trophies with the Gunners, including two Premier League titles and three FA Cups. During his time at Tottenham, he won only the Carabao Cup.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Ezekiel Olamide<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gary Neville has named Sol Campbell\u2019s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal as the most<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}