Fiorentina, Glasgow Rangers and quite a few clubs had been linked with Cottee but regularly it was Everton and Arsenal. Tony had to put in a transfer request and then had a call from John Lyall to tell him that it had been accepted but they wanted to get more than Gazza had gone for from Newcastle to Spurs. A lot of figures have been quoted for what he was transferred for but it was £2,050,000 - that 50 grand made him worth more than Gazza, which is incredible. Half an hour later, the phone rang and it was Colin Harvey saying that he wanted to meet Tony. Everton had not replaced Gary Lineker's goals and were looking to do that. George Graham rang a couple of hours later. There was initially a slight favouritism towards Arsenal as Cottee was a London lad.
Tony knew that Everton were a great club but Arsenal had players that Tony had played with in the England Under-21 level like David Rocastle, Michael Thomas, Paul Merson and Tony Adams. He went to Goodison to see Colin, who made it clear how much Everton wanted Tony, and then Cottee came down to meet Arsenal. George Graham was very laid back about everything and his financial offer was nowhere near what Everton had offered. When Tony had a sleep on it he was now leaning towards Everton but, the next morning, Tony went back to Highbury with his agent and had a chat with George Graham. They said: ‘What’s your best offer?’ And even that was nowhere near what Everton’s was, so Cottee pretty much knew where he was going. Then Colin drove down the motorway to meet him at South Mimms Services. Tony sat with him and looked at him in the eye and said: ‘Why do you want to sign me?’ Colin said all I want is someone who can score 25 goals a year for me and I believe that you could be that man’. In the end, Tony thought that Everton wanted him more than Arsenal wanted him in every aspect, so it was a very simple decision. It was a big risk from a personal perspective, as Tony didn’t know Merseyside at all, but from a professional point of view it was the right decision.
------------------------------
▶️ SUBSCRIBE here 👇
/ @theworldclas. .
🎧 LISTEN here 👇
linktr.ee/worl...
------------------------------------
🤝 FOLLOW us on socials here 👇
✖️ x.com/WorldCla...
📸 INSTAGRAM: @theworldclassstamp
🤳 Tiktok: @worldclassstamp
💚 Rumble: rumble.com/use....
------------------------------
🧢 MERCH: the-world-clas......
-------------------------------
This is The World Class Stamp Football Podcast, a weekly podcast where the FAN HOSTS sit down with legends of the sport, panel style, to talk about those who made a difference in the beautiful game from a players' perspective: the top keepers, the toughest defenders, the most skillful midfielders and the goal machines up front and bring it all together with the football icons best ever ONE to ELEVEN and MANAGER. The panel will challenge the legend on who, IF ANY, gets the WORLD CLASS STAMP?
The show will also look at those who had great influence off the pitch too - the successful managers, the funniest team-mates, and the most impressive leaders in the dressing room - and pay homage to the BEST MOMENTS from the biggest competitions like the PREMIER LEAGUE, FOOTBALL LEAGUE, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS and the WORLD CUP.
Broken down into two or three (depends how much fun we are having during the interview) episodes with each guest, The World Class Stamp Football Podcast will take you inside the minds, the dressing room and to the sidelines of the training ground of some of the best football teams and players the beautiful game has ever seen. You will hear stories that surprise you, inspire you, motivate you and best of all, make you laugh out loud and share it with your mates.
#soccer #football
26 сен 2024
