Every Arsenal legend has at least one very interesting story about their time at the club, and Martin Keown’s tale is right up there.
The Englishman is one of the greatest defenders to ever play for the Gunners. He represented Arsenal for over a decade and won multiple trophies.
Keown originally came through Arsenal’s academy, but what many people may have forgotten is that he actually had to leave the club before he became a legend.
The 58-year-old has now explained why he left Arsenal all the way back in 1986.
Martin Keown says he left Arsenal because of £50
Keown first joined Arsenal on a schoolboy contract in 1980.
The defender developed in the club’s academy and after a loan spell at Brighton, he made his senior debut for Arsenal in November 1985.
Keown made 22 appearances for Arsenal’s first team that season as a teenager and impressed everybody. Fans expected him to play much more in the following campaign, but what happened next was a shock.
During contract negotiations, Keown revealed that he asked Arsenal to pay him £50 a week more than their offer to him.
The Gunners refused to do that, and the Englishman decided to leave the club. Aston Villa signed him for £125,000 in the summer of 1986 (Daily Mail).
On the Rest is Football podcast, Gary Lineker asked Keown: “Basically, you left Arsenal over £50, right?
The legendary defender replied: “Yeah, not £50,000 like Ashley Cole.”
Speaking about what happened, Keown said: “Well, Don Howe was the manager, he advised me not to sign the previous contract. I was basically being offered £250 for the first year and £300 second.
“Don said ‘If you get into the first team, Martin, it won’t be £300, it will be way more. So, just sign for the one year.’ So I did. Played 21 games for the first team and they offered £300 a week the next season.
“I was like ‘Hold on, Don has left the club and no one seems to recognise me in the building’. I said ‘I’m not looking for a fortune, just give me £100 a week extra, not £50’. They said ‘no way, can’t do it’.
“So, it all became a point of principle.”
READ MORE: Arsenal legend Martin Keown sends hilarious message to Ruud van Nistelrooy
What happened to Keown after he left Arsenal?
Keown spent three years at Aston Villa and played 72 games for them in all competitions.
Then, in 1989, the England international moved to Everton and played over 100 games for the Toffees during his three-and-a-half-year spell there.
In February 1993, Arsenal decided to bring Keown back to the club. They paid £2 million to sign him from Everton, 16 times the fee that they received for him from Aston Villa when they sold him (Independent).
Keown then played 442 games for the Gunners in a career spanning over a decade. He won 11 trophies at Highbury, including three league titles and four FA Cups, and became an Arsenal legend.
One can only wonder now how much more of an impact Keown would’ve had at Arsenal if the Gunners had just paid him the extra £50 he wanted in 1986.
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