Roy Keane tried to sign Sol Campbell for Blues
Former Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane has revealed that he tried to sign legendary defender Sol Campbell while he was at the Blues.
Keane, who arrived as Town boss to much hype and fanfare in April 2009, said he met ex-England international Campbell at then-owner Marcus Evans’ house in London.
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But the duo couldn’t convince Campbell, who’d dropped into League Two to play for Notts County before his meeting with Keane and Evans, to head for Suffolk.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Gary Neville asked Campbell and Keane about Town’s attempts to sign the ex-Spurs, Arsenal and Portsmouth centre back.
The conversation went as follows…
Keane: “We met in London at the owner’s house, yeah. It was cool, wasn’t it?
Campbell: “It was alright, a big house, in the Boltons – a nice area in South West London. One of those big villas..”
Keane: “We couldn’t persuade you, could we?”
Campbell: “No, not at that time. I think I went back to Arsenal then, or Newcastle… one of those.”
Keane: “Of course we were disappointed. Meeting him and trying to get Sol into the building, yeah great. We needed a bit of experience.”
Campbell: “Did you like it there though?
Keane: “At Ipswich? It would have been better if you’d signed maybe! It was tough going. You would obviously have been a big help.
“But obviously we knew it was going to be a bit of a stretch to get you there.”
It’s not clear exactly when the meeting took place. Campbell returned to Arsenal in January 2010, just a few months after his ill-fated move to Notts County.
He then signed for Newcastle in August 2010, spending a season at St James’ Park before officially retiring in May 2012.
