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arsenal put their faith in sol campbell again
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sol campbell will complete a remarkable return to arsenal today by signing a contract at the emirates stadium until the end of the season. the former england defender played in last night’s reserve-team match against west ham united at upton park and then revealed that talks about a permanent contract are already at an advanced stage. it was campbell’s first appearance in an arsenal shirt since may 2006 and he coped well before coming off at half-time. arsenal led 1-0 at that stage and went on to win 4-2. “i cannot tell you how much i’ve missed playing,” he said. “i need to get minutes under my belt, a couple of reserve games at least, before i can start looking any further ahead. “i hope to sign for arsenal until the end of the season. there are still a few technicalities to iron out, but it’s fantastic, great, marvellous.” his imminent arrival would appear to spell the end for philippe senderos. the 24-year-old centre half, who is expected to be sold once he recovers from an ankle injury, has been bumped down the pecking order at the club. “i don’t want to play in the reserves,” he said. “i just want to go.” campbell rejected the opportunity to sign longer deals at hull city and newcastle united to return to arsenal, who will pay him £50,000 a week. the 35-year-old has not played a first-team match since a solitary appearance for notts county against morecambe in september during his ill-fated spell at the coca-cola league two club. he has been training with arsenal in an attempt to regain match fitness since walking out on county, but arsène wenger’s willingness to welcome back his former captain is still a surprise because their previous five-year association did not end happily. it will be the second time that the arsenal manager has signed campbell on a free transfer, after the former tottenham hotspur captain left white hart lane nine years ago, and the first time that wenger has re-signed a player in 14 years in north london. campbell won two league titles and three fa cups during his previous stay at arsenal, but his final season at the club was characterised by disillusion, disappointment and questions surrounding his mental health. he was deeply angered at being left out of arsenal’s fa cup final win over manchester united in 2005. that generated a seething resentment that he took into the next season, which reached its nadir when he walked out on his team-mates at half-time at highbury during a premier league defeat by west ham united in february 2006. campbell went awol for several days, until he surfaced on holiday in belgium, and did not play for the club for another two months. however, wenger stood by him, to such an extent that he was an integral part of the side who reached the champions league final that season, in which campbell scored arsenal’s goal in their 2-1 defeat by barcelona. his return to arsenal is a marriage of convenience; the player is desperate to prove his worth after the county debacle and the club need back-up for william gallas and thomas vermaelen. mikaël silvestre has failed to impress and johan djourou is out until march with a knee injury. campbell’s first opportunity to play for the first team will come in sunday’s barclays premier league match against bolton wanderers at the reebok stadium, but he is more likely to be picked for the return fixture three days later or arsenal’s fa cup fourth-round tie against stoke city a week on sunday. he could also make another appearance at white hart lane, where arsenal are due to meet tottenham on april 10.
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