Gallas first to play for Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs

LONDON – France defender William Gallas will become the first player to appear in the league for London rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur following his move across north London yesterday.

The Premier League club confirmed on their website (wwww.tottenhamhotspur.com) that he had signed a one-year deal.The former Arsenal skipper, 33 last Tuesday, became only the 14th player to move from Arsenal to Spurs in almost a century and will earn a unique place in the record books as the first to appear in competitive action for London’s three biggest clubs.George Graham featured for Chelsea and Arsenal in the 1960s and 1970s and also later managed Arsenal and Spurs.Clive Allen played for Tottenham and Chelsea and although he also signed for Arsenal in June 1980, he left two months later for Crystal Palace without playing a competitive match.It seems appropriate that Gallas, released by Arsenal at the end of last season, should create another landmark in his already noteworthy career although he may not initially receive the warmest of welcomes at White Hart Lane.Many Spurs fans loathe anything connected with their arch-rivals and still regularly curse their skipper Sol Campbell nine years after he left for Arsenal.Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was not worried about the reaction of the fans and insisted Gallas’s decision to join Spurs said much about the player’s character.’It’s not like I’ve signed the Yorkshire Ripper,’ he told reporters referring to English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe. ‘He (Gallas) is a footballer. When he leaves here he might go and play for West Ham, who knows?’He will come here with a point to prove … if he had wanted an easy life he would have taken some big money in Greece or somewhere. He has put himself under real pressure by coming here and you have to give the man some credit.’It’s not like he came here for a big pay day. I promise you, he came because he wanted to play and he’s taken the hardest challenge of all to come to Tottenham.’Moves between the clubs are rare and Gallas is only the fourth player to join Spurs having been at Arsenal in the last decade after Rohan Ricketts, Jamie O’Hara and David Bentley.No matter what the fans think, he should be a valuable addition to a Tottenham defence that needs reinforcing.England defender Ledley King has a long-term knee problem which restricts his appearances while Jonathan Woodgate is battling a career-threatening injury.- Nampa-Reuters

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