The 30th season of the Premier League has already begun, a championship considered by many to be the most important in the world as it has some of the most prominent stars in football and it is a league that is full of stories. Let’s look at some of the most curious anecdotes.
For example: did you know that Tottenham “stole” a West Ham reinforcement? Or that Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary Manchester United manager, was hit by a pizza thrown by an Arsenal player?
ESPN tells you these and other stories from the Premier League campaign.
The champion who trained in a public park
Manchester United won four of the first five editions of the Premier League, created by the clubs in 1992. Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad came very close to becoming a five-time champion, but an incredible Blackburn squad prevented it.
In the 1994/95 campaign, Blackburn Rovers finished the league one point ahead of United. The team was led by Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, and the protagonist on the pitch was Alan Shearer, who had turned down an offer from Manchester United himself.
What few people know is that, before becoming English champions and competing in the Champions League, the modest club had hardly a place to train. The staff carried out their daily activities in the public park called Pleasington, which was nothing more than a field next to a cemetery. And that’s where the 1995 champion would come out.
Food battle
This story took place in the locker room access corridors at Old Trafford on October 24, 2004. On the pitch, Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 and snapped an incredible 49-game unbeaten streak by Arsene’s men. Wenger.
Players and members of the two coaching teams started an altercation at the end of the game that ended with a piece of pizza thrown in the direction of Alex Ferguson. For a long time there were doubts about who was responsible, until, in an interview with Sky Sports 13 years later, Cesc Fabregas revealed that he had been.
“Yes, it was me. Suddenly I heard noises [del túnel] and I wanted to see what was happening. So I walked out with my piece of pizza in my hands and saw Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown all jostling. I didn’t know what to do and I just threw it [la pieza]… Later I found out who had beaten. I apologized to Sir Alex, because it really was an accident. “
The City’s surreal wish list
A few days ago we told you how in his desperation to find a star for his project, Manchester City made an offer by mistake to Lionel messi. But the Argentine was not the only one to receive a crazy and millionaire offer.
The list of great players approached by City leaders also included Berbatov, who ended up at United, Wayne Rooney, who also signed with United, Fernando Torres, who was hired by Liverpool, David Villa from Valencia, Ruud van Nistelrooy from Real Madrid, and the biggest name of all: Ronaldo the ‘Phenomenon’.
“Why not?” Sulaiman Al-Fahim said, just before losing his job at City. None of these stars wore the blue Manchester jersey, but over time they managed to sign footballers like Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Touré and Sergio Agüero.
The reinforcement that escaped from the hotel
It was January 2010 when West Ham was preparing to announce as their new reinforcement to Eidur Gudjohnsen, who had already defended the shirts of Chelsea, Barcelona and also Monaco.
The Icelander landed in London, on a flight paid for by the Hammers, and went directly to a clinic for medical examinations. After the tryouts, the West Ham folks dropped Gudjohnsen at a hotel so he could freshen up before heading to the club’s premises and being officially introduced.
When the West Ham managers returned to Gudjohnsen they realized that he was gone. The worst came the same day, when Gudjohnsen was announced as a Tottenham! The north London club signed him for a period of just six months, in a deal that the Hammers do not forget to this day.
When Arsenal did not sign Luis Suárez despite paying his termination clause
Luis Suárez had a brilliant stage at Liverpool despite his lack of titles. He scored 82 goals in 133 games, led a team that was fighting for the top spots in the league and left a lot of money in the coffers of the ‘Reds’ when he was sold to Barcelona in 2014.
The story could have been different a year earlier, when Suarez spoke publicly of his desire to leave Anfield. The Arsenal squad was willing to pay the £ 40 million clause. So much so that, as a provocation, the Gunners made a formal offer of £ 40,000,001.