Sol Campbell Joins Notts County Revolution
England International Makes a Remarkable Transfer
With the summer transfer window coming to an end, football fans can look back on a lot of spectacular football transfers with the likes of Ronaldo and Kaka joining Real Madrid, and Carlos Tevez switching Manchester United for Manchester City.
However, most will agree that the most bizarre move of the summer of 2009 is that of Sol Campbell turning down offers from Premiership, Championship and foreign clubs to sign for Notts County – who sit in the fourth tier of English football.
Notts County’s recent takeover by the mega rich Munto Finance group has seen them already acquire Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football as they make an attempt to climb all the way to the Premier League. Campbell joins on a free transfer having left Portsmouth in the summer.
Sol Campbell’s Role at Notts County
Initially, it was thought that Sol Campbell would take up a player-coach role at Notts County but it appears that is not the case – yet.
Campbell signed a five year deal as a player and his role will stay that way for the near future. At the age of thirty four, Campbell is no spring chicken in football terms and it seems highly likely that he will revert to a coaching position in around 3-4 years.
What is more interesting is his salary. The deal will net him a staggering £10 million over five years, working out at roughly £40,000 a week. Although that it is just an average wage in the Premiership, it is an astronomical figure for the lower leagues where money is notoriously tight.
To put it into perspective, most players at Notts County earn roughly £500 to £800 a week meaning Campbell earns more in a week than the rest of the team’s wages put together. Manager Ian McParland is on about £80,000 a year – a figure Campbell will acquire in just two weeks.
Sol Campbell’s Management Ambitions
Part of the reason Sol Campbell joined Notts County, is his apparent desire to become a manager.
Campbell is thought to have had short term offers (1-2 year contracts) from the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa and Hull City but has decided to take up the option of a longer term deal so he can learn from Sven Goran Eriksson about club management.
During the press conference, Campbell made no secret of his future plans, saying, “I am looking to the future and I would love to be a manager, but not now. This gives me the opportunity. I can play for three or four years and then maybe look at the coaching side. I can learn a lot from Sven. The ultimate is for me to manage in the Premier League.”
Sol Campbell’s International Career
Despite all the positives for Sol Campbell following his move to Notts County, one negative is that his international career with England is now effectively over.
Campbell, who has represented his country 73 times, hasn’t played for England for a long while but was still considered an option by manager Fabio Capello if his first choice centre backs were unavailable.
Now, with Campbell not playing at a high enough level, it would seem Capello will look elsewhere and forget about Campbell. That must be disappointing for Sol, who had ambitions of playing in his seventh major tournament for England at next summers World Cup in South Africa.
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