Arsene Wenger admits that he felt bad for Sol Campbell after the England international signed for Arsenal because he was a ‘sensitive man’ who got a load of abuse.

During a recent interview with Sky Sports, Arsene Wenger reflected upon his 21 years as Arsenal manager.

The Frenchman’s two decades in charge of one of Europe’s biggest teams hasn’t come without its controversial moments.

In fact, just five years after moving to north London, Wenger, along with David Dein, completed the signing of Sol Campbell, who had previously played for Tottenham. Of course, the centre-back received a truck-load of abuse after the move.

“It was very quiet at the beginning, between me and David Dean. We kept it quiet until this handshake basically,” Wenger said when showed a picture of himself and Sol.

“I felt sorry for him after that, because he was treated badly sometimes, and Sol is a very sensitive man and intelligent man. He was a huge signing for us.”

wenger sol campbell
(Jamie McDonald/ALLSPORT)

Sol had been a Spurs player for nine years. He’d come through their academy after moving from West Ham in 1989 and gone on to make 255 league appearances for their first team.

Therefore, you can understand the controversy that surrounded his move to Spurs’ bitterest rivals in 2001. To make matters worse, he signed on a free and went on to enjoy five years of success at Arsenal.

The centre-back won the Premier League title twice as well as the FA Cup twice during his time in red and white.

Sol even returned to Arsenal for a brief spell in 2010.

While you can understand why Wenger sorry for sensitive Sol, I’m sure the player would have anticipated the outcome of his move.