Sol Campbell in his prime was without doubt a world class performer. He was a rock, a model of consistency by which all should measure up to. He had the perfect combination of height, power, pace, and reading of the game which all centre-backs desire. Unlike some other top quality players, such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, I never recall Campbell making any high profile gaffs which cost his team dearly (well at least not on the field).

He was equally as vital as anyone in the Invincibles line up that dominated English football like no other. As great as the likes of Vieira and Henry were in that team it could easily be justified that Sol Campbell actually had the hardest job of the lot. Yes Vieira bossed the middle of the park like I have seen no other; yes Henry at times single handedly destroyed teams and won games. But the quality of support these players had was very different to that of Sol Campbell. Henry always had the likes of Pires, and most notably Bergkamp feeding him with the chances to win games in the style in which he did. Vieira always had the likes of Gilberto holding behind him, and the ever industrious Ljungberg working the right flank. Campbell’s role was difference. That back line consisted of Ashley Cole, Kolo Toure, Sol Campbell and Lauren. Ashley Cole was without doubt a top draw left back (cringe), but at the time a young one and one whose attacking instincts at times left the defence exposed. Kolo Toure’s deficiencies have become all too clear since Campbell left the club, and Lauren although a solid performer, is generally considered just about an above average full back. The question I would ask would be, without Henry, without Vieira, and with different personnel, would we have won the league? Probably not. Without Sol Campbell, would we have? Definitely not.

The problem many of these true sporting greats have is when to bail out, when to retire and the best way, and often the hardest way to do so is to go out at the top. Go out as a champion. The likes of Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira are all players who strike me as going out as champions. If they stayed on possibly a season longer, the decline in their performance would have been clear to see and criticism would have been widespread. Other sportsmen simply go on too long, whether out of love for the game, or love of the money that comes with it, an example being Roy Keane whose presence in midfield declined to the point he was often being asked to play at centre back late on in his career, which in the past would have been unthinkable. We are currently seeing this from Gary Neville and Paul Scholes - who I personally believe should have retired last summer. Why carry on when you have nothing to prove is the question often asked of sportsmen that do carry on that little bit too long. This is often a bad decision for legends, whose image is slightly degraded by performances that show signs of decline and fail to show the ability and consistency that we all have become accustomed to.

Sol Campbell is different, he was a great. However this great still has a point to prove, as he did not go out at the top. He went out having lost a Champions League final, having previously gone AWOL on a very young struggling Arsenal team against West Ham at Highbury in a game Arsenal lost 3-2 (the last defeat at Highbury). This is not the act of an experienced head, a key component for club and country. However this was the act of a man clearly fighting some personal demons. Yes he went on to win an FA Cup for Portsmouth (more than he ever won at Tottenham I would like to add smugly), but a man with Sol Campbell’s ability and stature in the game was never set to go out of the game having played for an average Premiership club, and definitely not playing for a team as far down as League 2. This decision to join Notts County was one of the most bizarre in history, a player whom I am sure many a Premiership club would have desired, joining a team in the same division as Barnet. This decision puzzles me still, the answer at the time given simply as a financial one. If this was the case however, why would he the walk out on this lucrative deal if it wasn’t for footballing reasons and his own personal aspirations?

This is a man who has a serious point to prove. If he retired now, or went out playing for Notts County in the lower divisions of English football there would always be questions of his temperament, having gone AWOL on Arsenal, questions of his loyalty having left Tottenham on a free to join bitter North London rivalries and walking out on Notts County having made just one appearance after signing a five year contract.

His ability would never, and has never been in question, but these nagging doubts have always and will always be unless this second stint at Arsenal is a fruitful one. Arsenal, a team lacking depth at the back, lacking a leader, an old head, have signed a legend with a point to prove. This isn’t a decision made by a desperate Wenger, he simply doesn’t make those type of decisions. He would have watched Campbell’s performances very closely over the two months at training with Arsenal, picking through every aspect of Sol Campbell as a footballer, like a man with a toothpick. Wenger does not make rash decisions, he is a highly thoughtful man (sometimes too thoughtful for his own good) and I am sure sees no reason why Campbell cannot contribute to this Arsenal team, just like the likes of Steve Bould, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Lee Dixon, and Winterburn did in the twilight of their careers. It wouldn’t even surprise me in the slightest if Campbell got another one year contract at the end of the season.

It all points to a great move by Arsene, whose team and in some ways himself has the same point to prove as that of Sol Campbell. Let’s all hope his influence is a positive one and can help Arsenal on their way to a trophy winning season, the first in the second decade of the 21st century.

“Heeey, hey Tottenham, Oooh Ahhh. I wanna kno-oooow, where your captain’s gone?”