Tony Cottee | It was DIFFICULT in the DRESSING ROOM there was RESENTMENT

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.
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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?

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