Who is football’s ultimate traitor? From doing the unthinkable by joining rivals Arsenal straight from Tottenham to the striker who swapped Arsene Wenger for sparring partner Sir Alex Ferguson

They’re two-faced, backstabbing liars who will do whatever it takes to get ahead.

And Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross and Cat Burns haven’t covered themselves in glory, either.

That’s right, long before BBC‘s hit show Traitors took the nation by storm, football’s biggest and brightest stars have mastered the art of deception and skullduggery, leading to some of the most controversial transfers in the game’s history. 

From the star who left his club for their arch rivals for free to the boy wonder who risked the wrath of his old team by joining their arch enemy, here are the most treachorous transfers to grace the game. 

Sol Campbell: Tottenham to Arsenal

Quite easily the most hated figure among Tottenham fans, Sol Campbell went from hero to zero when he joined arch rivals Arsenal on a free transfer in the summer of 2001. 

Regarded as one of the world’s best defenders at the time, Campbell came through the Spurs academy and was held in high esteem by his adoring fan base.

That was, of course, until he walked through the gates of arch rival Arsenal’s London Colney training ground to confirm his hugely-controversial move to the Gunners.

Worse still, Campbell had his pick of elite clubs, given he was at the peak of his powers, but clandestine talks with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger saw Campbell risk the wrath of Tottenham fans to pursue major titles with their North London rivals. 

‘It was about two or three months before when Inter Milan were interested. A few other clubs were too – Barcelona came in and I think Bayern came in six or seven months before,’ he said at his unveiling.

‘We [Wenger and Campbell] would meet at night time and it helped because he doesn’t live in a built-up place. It’s not like an inner-city London place where David Dein lived, so it was quite easy to meet.

‘I think there were trusted lines. Back then it was a little bit easier to be covert. One of the reasons why is because it wasn’t done until late on.’

‘We walked together at one o’clock in the morning to talk about [signing]… because he was paranoid it would be discovered,’ Wenger added. ‘This is a transfer we made with David Dein, at his house, and sometimes we had meetings at 11pm so we could make sure no-one could see us. It is an unbelievable story.

‘We had an agreement that never came out. Sol definitely knew before the last week [of his contract] that he was signing for us. At least, before that he promised to sign for us.’

Campbell went on to win two Premier League titles and the FA Cup no fewer than three times with the Gunners, cementing his status as an Arsenal legend.  

Robin van Persie: Arsenal to Man United

While Arsenal fans were able to rejoice at the nearest rivals Tottenham over the Campbell saga, they soon got a taste of their own medicine when star striker and club captain Robin van Persie deserted them for Manchester United.

Van Persie, long frustrated with the Gunners’ lack of silverware after leaving their famous Highbury home for The Emirates, succumbed to the charms of Sir Alex Ferguson who enticed him to the North West.

Fergie, chastened by United’s agonising title heartbreak at the hands of noisy neighbours Man City decided to he would leave no stone unturned in his mission to reclaim the league in 2012/13.

His answer: Sign the league’s most ruthless goalscorer. 

With 30 top flight goals the season prior, there was no doubting who that man was. But still, there was no chance United would get their hands on Arsenal’s talisman, surely?

Think again. Frustrated by his team’s lack of title credentials, van Persie refused to sign fresh terms with the Gunners, offering United a window of opportunity to make their move.

And they seized that chance in style, landing the Dutchman for just £24m. 

‘We never thought we could get Van Persie.’ a beaming Ferguson said at his new striker’s unveiling. ‘If you go back six months ago, I couldn’t see us getting him.

‘I thought Arsenal are not going to let him go. When I read he had refused a new contract, that is when we acted. It has been a long haul.’

Just as Ferguson had hoped for, van Persie delivered for the Red Devils, forming a formidable partnership with Wayne Rooney to help clinch the club’s 20th title.

But for the Dutchman today, who is forging an impressive career as a head coach, there is no route back to north London.

‘I don’t expect to work at Arsenal. I think that door is closed,’ he said. ‘Because of my switch to Man United, that is my assessment. You never know in football, but that is my assessment.

‘It is still sensitive for them, not for me. It is especially sensitive for the Arsenal fans. I have learned that planning so far ahead makes no sense at all. 

Michael Owen: Liverpool to Man United (via Real Madrid and Newcastle) 

Another former hero who burnt bridges at his former club after a switch to Old Trafford is Michael Owen.

The boy wonder, who claimed the Ballon d’Or in 2001 owing to his exploits with Liverpool, first caught the ire of the Anfield masses when he left Merseyside for Madrid in 2004.

Owen found himself back on British shores just one year later, having joined Newcastle, before the controversial move that still angers Liverpool fans to this day.

While Owen can be afforded the mitigation that he didn’t make the direct move to United from Liverpool, his free transfer still made him a loathed figure at Anfield.

But, like Campbell, his move to United proved a wise decision trophy-wise. Owen walked away with a Premier League title and the League Cup, and he insists he does not regret his decision, although he admits he was ‘gutted’ not to be a part of the club’s iconic Champions League triumph the season after his move to Madrid. 

‘I’m respected at Man United; the derby winner, Champions League hat-trick, goal in a cup final,’ Owen told Daily Mail Sport in 2021.

‘It’s not like I’m one of their own, we know that, but there’s mutual respect and good memories. 

‘But when I go through the doors at Liverpool, it’s in my heart. I hated going back as a player. It felt like I was punching my brother. Being booed, I felt sick. My parents were shot to bits.

‘It rarely happens now, the odd voice might shout, ‘You Manc’, but I can put it in a box. It doesn’t stop me thinking I would love to have the legacy of Carra (Jamie Carragher) or Stevie (Steven Gerrard).

‘They won the Champions League the season I left. I wanted my mates to win, absolutely, but part of me was gutted, ‘God, that could have been me’. I have to accept that. It was my decision to leave.’

Carlos Tevez: Man United to Man City

Very few footballers cross Sir Alex Ferguson and come away unscathed. 

But for Carlos Tevez, there was a private jet ready to whisk him away from the furious Scot as he agreed a move to crosstown rivals Man City.

‘I was on loan at United. Ferguson told me that they were going to buy me, then he brought Berbatov and he didn’t put me in the league,’ Tevez said.

‘The day before the Champions League final vs. Barcelona, I told him I was going to Manchester City.’

United lost the game 2-0 to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering team, and before Fergie had the chance to win Tevez around – as he had done with so many other undecided players – the Argentine jetted off to Abu Dhabi. 

‘I had more or less agreed with the Sheikh [Man City owner] that after the game, I would take a private plane, go with my family to Abu Dhabi to meet him, and to settle the contract with City. It was like a dagger for him [Alex Ferguson].’ 

Not only did Tevez take his considerable footballing talents to the other side of Manchester, but he also took the wisdom he picked up from two years in Fergie’s dressing room.

His City teammate, Yaya Toure, revealed how he would regularly mention what United’s winning legends would do to get the upper hand. 

‘He was like, ‘Guys, when I was…’ Because he was always saying that. ‘Guys, when I was with Man United, the players like [Nemanja] Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, all that. Well, that’s what they do. Yeah, guys, we have to do more’.’

‘And that’s training, even in the games. And everywhere, even in the dressing room where we sat, we had a meal together after the training. It was like dedication. It was application and discipline.

‘Because, of course, when the clubs have to come in, the clubs, before coming to that period, we have a lot of things going through. We have players who are not focused enough. We have players who are not competing enough.’ 

Luis Figo: Barcelona to Real Madrid

In Spain, players switch between the nation’s biggest clubs with surprising regularity. 

Antoine Griezmann swapped Atletico Madrid for Barcelona with little complaint, while Thibaut Courtois has established himself as a modern day hero at Real Madrid despite his association with Atletico. 

Yet Luis Figo’s move from Barcelona to the Bernabeu still wrankles with Catalonians. 

Madrid, long seen as an enemy on the pitch and a figure of Spanish national oppression of the Catalan state, prised Barcelona’s beloved captain in a deal that made the Portuguese the first of the club’s illustrious, but doomed, ‘galactico’ group. 

For what it’s worth, Figo did not anticipate the intensity of the public backlash. Two years after his move, the midfielder returned to the Nou Camp, where objects – including a pig’s head – rained down on him from furious fans, such was their anger with his betrayal. 

‘I had everything in Barcelona, but you think: ‘It’s not like I’m going to a second-rate club.’ If it hadn’t been Madrid, maybe I wouldn’t have gone. It’s a challenge, a decision based on feeling valued, convincing me I was going to be an extremely important piece. It could have been a cagada, a c***-up, but it wasn’t, thank God.

‘These days, there’s more protection. It felt like I was doing a press conference every day. That takes its toll. We were starting to tour, a new idea, there was the rivalry, the pressure, the price.’ The hatred too. ‘Not everyone likes God, how is everyone going to like me?’ he says, but the footage of his return to the Camp Nou is still shocking. ‘My only concern was if something happened physically, some madman. But go and play football? Nah! In football there’s no reason to be scared.’

That hatred is still felt today. Figo sparked outrage when he appeared in Barcelona’s director’s box for the club’s Champions League clash with PSG, forcing presdient Joan Laporta to launch a public statement.

‘He was a Barca player; we remember the afternoons and nights of glory he gave us,’ Laporta said.

‘He made a decision, but life has moved on, and he’s a member of UEFA, so he’ll be received with all due respect.’

Eric Cantona: Leeds to Man United

While not technically city enemies, Leeds and Man United have shared a ferocious rivalry that has spanned decades. 

These two great football institutions have each enjoyed their fair share of sublime footballers for the masses to worship, but few have crossed the Peak District to join the other.

Perhaps the most high-profile switch in recent memory can be traced back to Eric Cantona. The combustible Frenchman famously moved to Old Trafford for what today would seem a meagre £1million, after falling out with manager Howard Wilkinson.

Ferguson didn’t need convincing to make a move for the maverick centre forward. 

‘The manager used to ask Steve [Bruce] and I a lot about opposition forwards,’ former United defender Gary Pallister recalled when discussing Cantona’s signing.

‘I remember at the time we were looking for a striker to give us that extra cutting edge and he’d previously asked us about Alan Shearer at Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday’s David Hirst.

‘I then got a call from a journalist to say, ‘Guess who you have just signed?’ I went through a long list of goalscorers but never mentioned Cantona because I just never expected Leeds would sell him. There was such a rivalry between the two clubs I never for one minute thought they’d let a player of that class move to us.’

Not only did they allow Cantona to move to their fierce rivals, but Leeds also acknowleged that United were landing the centre forward for a remarkably cheap fee, and briefed the media that he was sold for an inflated £1.6m, in an attempt to appease the baying Leeds fans. 

Cantona went on to enjoy a hugely successful spell at Old Trafford, and is widely regarded as the catalyst that set in motion Ferguson’s winning machine.  

Ashley Cole: Arsenal to Chelsea

To channel the late Queen Elizabeth, when discussing Ashley Cole’s explosive move from Arsenal to London rivals Chelsea and where the truth lies, it’s perhaps best to say: ‘Recollections may vary.’

For the Gunners, this was a case of unsolicited ‘tapping up’ on the part of Chelsea for their star left back. In fact, the Blues were handed a £300,000 fine and a suspended three-point deduction by the Premier League after being found guilty of doing just that.

But for Cole, his controversial move to Stamford Bridge was the result of what he describes as ‘broken promises’.

‘My situation was I knew what I was worth,’ he said on That Peter Crouch Podcast. 

‘If you don’t want to pay it, no problem. But we did agree to pay it. Everything was agreed and then they pulled the rug [from] under me. They broke their promise – I couldn’t tell you why.’

Arsenal reportedly tabled a £55,000-per-week offer, which Cole felt undervalued his considerable talent. Upon his move to Chelsea, that salary was doubled.

‘It was hard [to leave],’ he said. ‘People [don’t] understand the pressure that I was under to leave or to stay. 

‘Ultimately I felt disrespected, this is my point of view, I felt disrespected. It is what it is, but sometimes when I speak to fans [and they say], ‘You left, you hurt me’, I’m like, ‘Hold up’. People don’t realise that I was the one who got hurt the most. That was my boyhood club, I’d been living the dream. But I got shafted.’ 

Being a figure of hatred among the Arsenal fanbase was the price Cole had to pay for his move, but it was seemingly a trade-off he would do again having won all there is to win in West London – including the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.  

Harry Redknapp: Portsmouth to Southampton… then back!

Our final teachorous switch comes via the dugout. 

Cult hero manager Harry Redknapp had earned a name for himself after guiding Portsmouth to the top flight and ensuring their survival in 2004, but a falling out with owner Milan Mandaric led to an acrimonious exit that summer.

Fallings out with the board are commonplace in football, but it’s even rarer for a disgruntled manager to walk out of the door, hop in a car and head across town to their nearest rivals.

And it came as no surprise when Redknapp was labelled ‘Judas’ by furious Pompey fans upon his unveiling at Southampton. 

‘We had an amazing relationship, I loved him [Mandaric], but we were both volatile,’ Redknapp said.

‘Eventually we had a bust-up, thing were festering over a member of my staff that Milan wanted me to change and he wanted to bring a foreign coach in, and we had a fall-out and I walked out.

‘Within a week I got a phonecall asking me if I would go to Southampton. Why shouldn’t I? I’ve done nothing wrong, should I not work again, so I took the job.

‘As a football manager people say, who do you support Harry? You support whatever team you are at, that is your team. I go to Southampton and I am desperate for Southampton to do well.’

Despite pleas for the fans to remember his achievements at Portsmouth prior to the match, Redknapp required personal security when Southampton visited Fratton Park in April 2005 for the South Coast derby.

Redknapp admitted he had underestimated the rivalry between Portsmouth and Southampton, with his move across the divide adding to an already charged atmosphere.

‘I hadn’t realised how bad the rivalry was. I knew it was fierce, but it was fiercer than I ever expected,’ Redknapp tells the documentary. ‘Going back to Portsmouth it was nerve wracking to be truthful, it wasn’t an enjoyable day at all. I think the players were terrified.

‘We got the SAS, we’ve got helicopters flying above following the coach. It was pretty horrific.

‘I think the players before they even went on the pitch were scared. It was certainly worse than anything they had ever experienced before or after in their careers, I would imagine.’ 

Saints were hammered by Portsmouth and ended up relegated, resulting in Redknapp’s resignation.

To add even another layer of drama, Redknapp then returned to Pompey, where he delivered the FA Cup in 2008 and restored his hero status.