AC Milan legend Alessandro Costacurta has admitted that he turned "?down a move to Spurs when he was younger, explaining to Arsenal's match programme that being a massive Gunners fan stopped him from making the move.
He talked about his long-running love for Spurs' north London rivals, admitting that he just couldn't bring himself to play at White Hart Lane when he was offered a move in 1996.
We knew there was a reason we liked Alessandro Costacurta... https://t.co/wviHqAvjkl
He said: "The idea of living in London was very exciting. But I finally refused and you know why? Because I couldn't betray my English love. The truth is that I've been a keen Arsenal fan since my childhood, and playing for "?our' bitter rivals would have been high treason.
"When I was younger I liked the Arsenal shirt, the stadium, and some of the players from the 1980s such as Liam Brady. And I've always gone against the tide. All my friends were Manchester United or Liverpool fans, so I picked Arsenal and I've never changed my mind."?
Costacurta played against his boyhood club in the 1995 European Super Cup, reminiscing about the first leg at Highbury more than 20 years on.
Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta. pic.twitter.com/bcjbmIaue2
"The first game is possibly one of the favourite matches of my entire career,"? he said. "Not so much because of the game itself, which was very intense but perhaps not very exciting as the final score was a 0-0 and the only time we were really under threat was at set pieces.
"It was more for the setting of Highbury. Emirates is wonderful and over time it will gain its own mythical aura, but Highbury was unique. It's up there along side Anfield as the stadium of my dreams. But if I had to pick one it would Highbury."?
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