by Nia Griffiths

The first nine names of the top 50 most influential people in Premier League history have been announced and Sol Campbell is one of them for a bit of an unusual reason.

Campbell was included in the list due to his controversial ‘bosman‘ move from Tottenham Hotspur to the better half of North London in 2001. The defender ran down his contract with Spurs before moving for free to their biggest rivals down the road – something that is still a bit of a sore subject for Tottenham fans.

The centre-back went on to play 207 times for the Gunners but never managed to grab any goals against his old team, despite featuring in four wins against them in his time at Arsenal – although for a centre-back, that’s hardly a startling statistic.

Big Sol has since apologised for the move, saying, “I’m sorry about the situation with me going and I’m sorry how it happened.”

However, in pretty much the best example of ‘sorry, not sorry’ I’ve ever heard, he remained adamant that he made the right decision, considering the success he enjoyed.

“I’m not going to apologise for the move (to Arsenal) because I was very successful. I’m sorry about the hurt it inflicted on them.”