Wenger should welcome back Campbell

Sol Campbell, first time round, is Arsene Wenger’s third-best signing.

Thierry Henry, of course, is the best. He scored 226 goals in 380 games, and glided by defenders like a speed-skater passing a slipping drunk.

Patrick Vieira is second. He was everything: defender, attacker, and minder for the stars (Henry and, especially, Robert Pires). Vieira also gave the best performance of Wenger’s reign: the match-winning masterclass against Tottenham in the 2001 FA Cup semi-final.

But Campbell - who played in that game - is better than Wenger’s other signings, including Cesc Fabregas. It’s no coincidence that two of Wenger’s three great seasons - the 2002 Double, and the 2004 championship - had Campbell as the six-foot keystone.

Campbell was Tony Adams’ heir, the English centre-half who did things the Professor doesn‘t teach: head, and kick, and defend. One game, in particular, stands out, but it wasn’t against Manchester United, Chelsea, or even Tottenham.

It was against Blackburn, at Ewood Park, in January 2002. Arsenal went two-nil up, but Blackburn - willed on by 20,000 fans, shouting themselves warm in the snow - rushed back, like shoppers at the Boxing Day sales.

Blackburn banged on the door, but Campbell kept answering. Oleg Luzhny - who was used to the snow, but not the tactics - was sent off, yet Campbell kept heading, kept clearing, and kept Arsenal in the game.

Eventually, Dennis Bergkamp scored the winner, and took the headlines. But it was Campbell who won the game. That snowy evening summed up his Arsenal career.

While Henry, Pires, and Bergkamp wrote symphonies with their insteps, Campbell was the ballast that stopped the bantamweights being blown away. At his peak, he won two league titles in three years, and was - easily - the Premier League’s best defender. Just ask Kolo Toure.

Fabregas, despite his talent, hasn’t won one title. Until he does, he’s less important to Wenger’s history than Campbell. History, of course, means nothing to Arsenal’s team selection: if it did, David Seaman would be in goal, and Vieira wouldn’t have signed for Man City.

Yet Campbell, you suspect, could give Arsenal five months’ decent service. Only those who’ve seen him train know his speed, his sharpness, and - crucially - his weight. But his return would be far easier than, say, Vieira’s.

Firstly, he’d play five games, if that.

Secondly, he’d have William Gallas or Thomas Vermaelen to play the Toure role, scampering after strikers, while he made thirty-yard headers.

Thirdly, and most importantly, he’d have something to prove. Does the Double-winning Invincible want his final game to be a defeat at Christie Park, Morecambe?

Campbell, second time round, won’t be Wenger’s fourth best signing. But he could, in just one game, be the difference between one point and three. And that makes a short-term contract worthwhile.