Transfer dealings between Chelsea and Arsenal have become far more regular in recent years, with the clubs engaging in plenty of business both ways.
More recently it has been players moving from Stamford Bridge to the Emirates, and this took place over the summer with the sale of Noni Madueke.
Madueke was on the end of rough treatment from Enzo Fernandez upon his return to West London, and players moving between the clubs tend to get a bad reception from their old sides.
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Being amongst the elite clubs in Europe for the entire 21st century, both sides have been up against each other to make signings too.
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Shaun Wright-Phillips says he nearly joined Arsenal before Chelsea
Chelsea secured the signing of Shaun Wright-Phillips in 2005 for a fee of £21m (BBC Sport) from Manchester City, and he went on to enjoy a very strong career at Stamford Bridge.
However, he has now revealed to ‘All Out Football’ that he very nearly never joined the Blues at all, and was a major transfer target for Arsenal at the time too.
He said: “I had a call from my agent and he said, Arsenal were interested in you. And I was like, yeah, OK, but I’m happy where I am, sort of thing. He said, well, I don’t think you have much of a choice. And I kind of was like, well, I do have a choice because it’s me.
“What happened then after that. So then he called me back three days later, and he said, right, Chelsea are interested as well. Obviously, you’ve got Dad in one corner, with Arsenal.
“So they spoke to Arsene Wenger. Arsene Wenger said, we want him, but we want to watch him a bit more until January.
“Mourinho and Abramovich came in and said, we’re taking him now. And I still said, I’m happy where I am. But then the club said, you have to go.
“We had a game, I think it was at Macclesfield, and I remember Paul Dickov saying, you’re not playing today. And Pearcey was the manager at the time. And Pearcey said, I’ve been told I’m not allowed to play you as well. So I basically got off the bus, walked in the changing room, and in 10 minutes, a car was outside to take me straight to London. And I went straight to London, had the medical, and that was it.”
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Shaun Wright-Phillips’ Chelsea career
Wright-Phillips would win a number of major trophies during his time at Chelsea, before making the move back to City in 2008.
In this time, the winger played 125 games, scoring 10 goals and assisting 14 more.
He would often struggle for regular starts due to the quality of wingers at the club. The likes of Joe Cole and Arjen Robben made breaking into Jose Mourinho’s side.
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