Former Manchester United captain Michael Carrick has revealed how close he was to joining Arsenal in 2004, rather than their fierce rivals Tottenham, only for Cesc Fabregas‘ emergence for the Gunners to scupper a move.
West Ham, where Carrick was playing at the time, were stuck in the Championship and looking to sell players in order to raise funds. And having met Harry Redknapp over a potential move to Portsmouth, the midfielder also had a meeting with then-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to discuss a transfer ahead of the Gunners’ Community Shield clash against United in Cardiff.
“Then, on the way home, we got another call. Arsenal again, asking us to meet Arsene,” Carrick writes in his autobiography Between The Lines, which is due to be released next week.
“As it happened we were driving past his home in north London, so we arranged to call in on the way.
“Within an hour I was sitting in the front room of Arsene Wenger’s house, pinching myself. Could this really be happening? Arsenal! Could I really be on the verge of signing for the Invincibles who’d just gone through the season unbeaten?
“We talked for almost an hour about football. Wenger had the Community Shield at the weekend but was spending an hour with me, so surely he had to be interested in signing me?
“‘Let’s get Cardiff out the way, and we’ll see you Monday,’ Wenger said as we left.
“Things were moving so fast I needed a few minutes to put it all into perspective. That night, I sat at the bottom of my bed and talked it through with Lisa, just running all the possibilities through my mind.
“It came from nowhere. My head was spinning. Arsenal were finishing either first or second in the Premiership.”
However, Fabregas’ performance against United in Arsenal’s 3-1 Community Shield win convinced Wenger that he didn’t need to sign another midfielder.
“On the Sunday, I settled down at home in Theydon Bois, Epping, to watch Arsenal, my team to be, in the Community Shield against Manchester United,” Carrick says.
Michael Carrick won a glut of trophies at United, including the 2008 Champions League.
“I saw that a kid, Cesc Fabregas, only 17, started in Vieira’s place. Fabregas played a blinder but I didn’t think too much about the significance. I sat at home on Sunday night waiting for the call to arrange details of the next day. Arsenal! I couldn’t wait.
“But I waited, and waited, and that call never came. The next day, I had to go into training at West Ham instead and, on the way, David [Gold] phoned to say he’d had a call from [Arsenal vice-chairman David] Dein. David relayed the gist of his message, like, ‘I’m sorry, the manager says we don’t need Michael. Fabregas is coming through like he is. Sorry, the deal’s off.’
“Fabregas’ performance changed Wenger’s mind about needing me.
“I was totally devastated as I had my heart set on Arsenal and playing with all that talent. My head was gone. Arsenal had swayed me and I didn’t have a clue what I’d do now.”
The move would have altered Carrick’s career trajectory entirely, as it’s unlikely Arsenal would have sold him to Manchester United given the fierce rivalry between the two clubs during the early and mid 2000s.
Instead, Tottenham swooped in after the failed move to Arsenal, and he spent two years at the other north London club before joining United, where he became a much-loved figure during a 12-year spell as a player, before retiring and joining United manager Jose Mourinho’s coaching staff this summer.
