Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Campbell ends Notts County feud

By Nabil Hassan

Sol Campbell and Gordon Taylor
Campbell's contract dispute has been resolved says Taylor (right)

Sol Campbell can sign for another club after settling his contract dispute with Notts County, players' union chief Gordon Taylor has confirmed.

The former Tottenham, Arsenal and Portsmouth defender joined big-spending County in August, but left less than a month into a five-year deal.

League Two County refused to release the 35-year-old's registration but have now reached an agreement to do so.

"Sol Campbell is now a free agent," Taylor told BBC Sport.

"His contract dispute has been resolved and he is free to pursue football in the January transfer window. He can sign for any club he wants now," added Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).

606: DEBATE

Campbell has been training with Arsenal in order to stay fit while the dispute was resolved and has been linked with several clubs over the past two months.

The Premier League and Football League confirmed to BBC Sport that Campbell can sign immediately, though he is unlikely to be available to play before the new year.

The former England defender played just one game after arriving at County in September - a 2-1 defeat at Morecambe.

His arrival was a real statement of intent from the ambitious new owners at Meadow Lane, with former England manager and Notts County director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson playing an instrumental role in persuading Campbell to drop down to the Football League's bottom tier.

Campbell, capped 73 times by his country, was reportedly on wages of £40,000 but the move quickly turned sour, with reports suggesting the centre-back had become disillusioned with the club's rate of progression during his short stay.

After leaving County by "mutual consent" the club refused to release Campbell's registration unless he agreed a "statement of departure".

Taylor refused to reveal the "intricacies" of the settlement but admitted it had been "delicate" to resolve.

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