Arsenal had to fight to hold onto Tony Adams
Tony Adams was famously a one-club man - but that nearly changed
In 1996, Arsenal were in a bit of disarray - and their iconic captain Tony Adams almost left the club as a result.
The highly-successful, if divisive, George Graham had been dismissed the year before following the bung scandal, in which the Gunners boss admitted of receiving an 'unsolicited gift' from an agent.
In finishing fifth the following season under Bruco Rioch, Arsenal did show some signs of bouncing back from a disappointing 12th-place finish and the heartbreak of defeat in the Cup Winners' Cup final as they failed to retain the trophy.
Football fans
Football fans
Tony Adams: "Fergie phoned me - I told Arsenal I was gone"
But Rioch was himself dismissed just before the beginning of the 1996/97 season, in part because of a dispute over transfers.
And Adams told FourFourTwo that prior to the appointment of the unknown Arsene Wenger, he got a phone call from ever-opportunistic Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to try and lure him to Old Trafford.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and assistant manager Brian Kidd with the Premier League trophy, 1996
Manchester United had just won the Premier League title in 1996
Adams promptly had a sit-down meeting with the Arsenal chairman, explaining: “I went in to see Peter Hill-Wood. I said: ‘What’s your ambition for the club?’
"He said: ‘No problem, Tony, we’ve got a good man on the way, all’s good’.
"But Fergie had been on the phone saying: 'Come up here, you haven’t got a manager, you’re all over the place’.
"I said ‘Look, Peter... I’m gone’."
However, Arsenal ultimately pulled out the stops to show their captain just how ambitious they were - including holding onto him.
Arsene Wenger and Tony Adams
Staying at Arsenal worked out alright for Tony Adams
Adams said: "My wages got trebled, Arsene came in and the rest is history – I stayed put.
"I’m so grateful that it happened that way and I didn’t go to pastures new.
"I was able to lift more trophies for the Arsenal, do a couple more Doubles and retire as a one-club player. I’m very proud of that.”
Adams’ book 1996: Reflections On The Year That Changed My Life is available now