Ex-Tottenham star Pascal Chimbonda has admitted on Sky Sports News that his move from Wigan Athletic to Spurs in 2006 was ‘the worst’ transfer of his career.
While the defender did admit that it was a ‘good move’ for him, he claimed the way in which the transfer occurred ‘didn’t go very well’.
The transfer gained a lot of traction after it was reported that Chimbonda had handed in his transfer request to Wigan manager Paul Jewell straight after a match against Arsenal at Highbury, which was the final game of the 2005/2006 Premier League season.
The transfer request was also famously done in written form with the full-back handing the manager a note just moments after full-time, while still on the pitch.
In the end, Chimbonda did get his wish and secured a move to Tottenham, where he played 103 times in all competitions, even winning the League Cup in 2008 – which remains the last major trophy won by the club.
Despite this success, Chimbonda admitted that moving to Spurs was the ‘worst’ transfer of his career.
When asked what was his favourite transfer was, he said: “Well, I wouldn’t say my favourite one but I would say the worst one was when I left Wigan to go to Spurs.
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“It was a good move but the way it goes didn’t go very well. That’s one of the only frustrating things in my career but with time I’ve moved on, and mistakes happen.”
Chimbonda was then asked whether the story of him handing in a transfer request after the final day of the season was true.
He said: “Yeah, I did it. I did it because I didn’t know how it worked in England and my agent told me wrong.
“That’s my only mistake and if I had to do it again I wouldn’t do it in that way because Wigan opened the door for me and I shouldn’t have done something like that.
“I don’t think people forget about it but it’s something that cost me a big move somewhere else. Yes, it’s frustrating but it didn’t stop me from moving on with my career.
Chimbonda also shed some light on the actual transfer request he gave to his manager at the time:
“It (the note) was in my bag inside an envelope and I gave it to the manager. I thought he would go home and read but he opened it with the chairman.
“It was a latter saying ‘thank you gaffer for opening the door for me to come to Wigan’ but it was a transfer request.
“But I am not pleased with it because I think my agent told me to do that and I think if I didn’t do it I would’ve not been playing at Spurs but somewhere else.”
SpursWeb Opinion
That story regarding Chimbonda’s move from Wigan to Tottenham is one of true football heritage. It’s really interesting hearing his point of view regarding the situation. However, the move wasn’t all bad – the full-back has the 2008 League Cup in his CV thanks to Tottenham.
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