Ledley King has reflected on his decision to spend his whole career at Tottenham Hotspur and has discussed whether an exit was something he ever considered.
King may have only won 1 trophy at Tottenham (the 2008 League Cup), but he was widely considered to be one of the most talented centre-backs of his generation.
He became an icon to the White Hart Lane faithful and, if not for his injury problems, would have probably won a lot more caps for England than he did.
Even towards the end of his career, when his knee issues prevented him from training or being at 100 per cent, the centre-back played a key part in leading Tottenham to Champions League qualification for the first time in their history.
Ledley King admits he never considered leaving Tottenham despite jealousy
The 45-year-old has admitted that he did have options to leave Spurs and that he was jealous of the success of Tottenham’s rivals.
However, he explained that having been made captain, his only motivation was to take the Lilywhites to success rather than jumping ship.
The Tottenham legend told OLGB: “There was interest, but I was never interested myself. You know, I was captain at the age of 23 and from that point on I felt like it was my club to try and lead and you know I wasn’t one to jump ship.”
“Yes, I was jealous of the Man Uniteds winning, the Chelseas winning, the occasional Arsenal winning, but my job I felt was to make our team into winners, to try and improve our team. And unfortunately, injuries along the way kind of got in the way of that. But that was my always my ambition, to take my team to be winners.”
Andy Robertson makes classy gesture in honour of King
Andy Robertson has worn the number 26 shirt through his time at Hull City and Liverpool, but he chose the number three at Spurs.
Robertson explained that he did not want to take up the 26 out of respect for King, with the number, although not officially retired, not being worn by any Tottenham player since the centre-back retired.
That shows the regard in which the 45-year-old is held at the North London club to this day, with his name still being sung regularly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.