‘I left Arsenal after calling their bluff – every team in UK wanted to sign me’
Jamie O’Hara has spilled the beans on his bold move from Arsenal to Tottenham as a youngster.
The former Spurs midfielder revealed he wasn’t prepared to wait around for first-team action which promoted his sharpish exit from the Gunners.
O’Hara, who was hot property at 17 and playing for England’s youth teams alongside future stars like Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon, grew frustrated with Arsenal’s slow-burn approach to his career, reports the Mirror.
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The north London club, under Academy director Liam Brady, planned to ease him into the first team by his early 20s, but O’Hara and his dad were having none of it. “I called Arsenal’s bluff to leave I had every team in the country wanting to sign me,” the ex-midfielder boasted on the Ben Heath Podcast.
“My dad and me had a falling out with Liam Brady, who was a legend there,” O’Hara recounted. “I was 17 and playing in the [England] age groups with Tom Huddlestone, Gabby Agbonlahor, Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon. I was playing with players who were already playing first-team football. I thought I was ready.”
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(Image: Getty Images)
Admitting his youthful overconfidence, O’Hara said: “I wasn’t ready, but I thought I was. I didn’t want to get held back. Liam Brady was like, ‘we love you, we’re going to development you, you’re going to have a great career here, but we don’t see you getting in the team until you’re 21’.”
Impatient and eager to prove himself, O’Hara made a gutsy decision. “I was like, ‘I’m 17, I’m not waiting another four years’. I was was, ‘like nah’. Liam Brady was a brilliant man but quite a stubborn character. So we called their bluff a little bit and said, ‘we’ll leave then'”.
(Image: Getty Images)
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The scramble for O’Hara’s signature was on as he revealed: “All of a sudden, I had every team in the country wanting to sign me. I had about 15 letters from 15 different clubs, Man United, Man City, Tottenham, Chelsea, Wimbledon.
“Real Madrid wanted me to go out there and have a trial with them, but I didn’t want to leave home. I lost my mum to cancer when I was 17 and I didn’t want to stay in digs.”
(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
But his rise to Spurs’ first team wasn’t as swift as he’d hoped, prompting a chuckle: “The funny thing is, I left Arsenal because I didn’t want to wait until I was 21 to make my debut. I went to Tottenham and made my debut when I was 21!
“Tottenham was the perfect opportunity. I’m a Tottenham fan, I love it there. They brought me in and I trained with the first team. Straight away, I pursued going to Tottenham and made that happen. I heard they paid around £1million for me with add-ons.”
