Former Town boss Roy Keane has been speaking about his attempt to bring Sol Campbell to Portman Road in 2009 after the former England centre-half had left Notts County after a brief spell.
Keane expressed his interest in recruiting Campbell, then 35, in September 2009 after the former Arsenal and Spurs man had left the League Two side only a matter of days into a five-year contract.
Despite having walked out, Campbell was still contracted to the Meadow Lane club and would have had to have joined the Blues on loan. Ultimately he rejoined the Gunners for training in the October, then in the January on a permanent basis.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Campbell recalled meeting Keane and Blues owner Marcus Evans for talks.
"We met in London at the owner’s house. It was alright, a big house in the Boltons, which is a nice area in South-West London. He had one of those big villas,” he said.
Keane was asked whether he was disappointed not to sign Campbell: "Obviously we were meeting him, we’re trying to chat, of course we were thinking if we could get Sol into the building, great, a bit of experience.”
Quizzed on whether he enjoyed his time at Town by Campbell, Keane, who endured an unsuccessful 20 months at Portman Road between April 2009 and January 2001, said: "It would have been better if you’d signed, maybe! It was tough going but you would obviously have been a bit of help.
"But obviously we knew it was going to be a bit of stretch to get you down.”