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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Ricky Charlesworth

Mark Schwarzer details how obscene price tag killed dream Arsenal deal

Mark Schwarzer was one of the Premier League's most recognisable and successful goalkeepers over the course of his career.

The Australian spent 20 years in English football, representing five clubs most notably Middlesbrough and Fulham, between 1996 and 2016.

He lifted the League Cup at Boro and later in his career he was part of title-winning squads at both Chelsea and Leicester - in the process becoming the first player to be involved in back-to-back title victories with separate clubs in the Premier League era.

As if that wasn't enough, he also won more than a century of caps for Australia before hanging up his gloves at the age of 43.

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But now, almost six years after playing his final game, Schwarzer has shed light on a frustrating incident whilst he was at Craven Cottage - and one that denied him a dream move to Arsenal.

Speaking to Ladbrokes at the launch of its 5-a-side bet on Leicester v West Ham, Schwarzer picks up the story about how incoming Fulham manager Mark Hughes blocked his departure to the Emirates in the summer of 2010 - after the club slapped a huge price tag on him.

"My first conversation with Mark was very much, 'Hi, nice to meet you, I want to leave.'" recalled Schwarzer.

"He must have known there was an offer on the table and that I desperately wanted to go. He just told me there was no offer, he knew nothing about it, and that the club wouldn't be letting anyone leave.

"I ended up meeting with (former chairman) Mohamed Al-Fayed in his office at Craven Cottage, and he told me that if Arsenal met the value the club believed I was worth, that I could go, and if they didn't pay it, I was stuck.

"So I asked 'What's the value?' and he said '10 million pounds'.

"10 million pounds? I was 37-years-old! Nobody in their right mind was ever going to pay that for me.

"I tried for the rest of that summer to come to some sort of agreement with Mr Al-Fayed and Mark Hughes, because I didn't want to lose such a big opportunity, but things just ended up fizzling out.

"Mark was avoiding me like I had the plague, but I eventually managed to get in contact with him and give it one last go to push the move through.

"With about two weeks to go until Deadline Day, he told me I could go, but only on the condition he could bring in who he wanted to bring in as my replacement.

"Can you tell me who that is, out of interest? 'Shay Given.'

"What happens if he doesn't want to come here?" 'Well, then you're not going.' And that was basically it. I stormed out, apparently Shay turned the move down and I had to stay, they wouldn't let me go."

Schwarzer would go on to play for Fulham until the summer of 2013, helping them post two top-half finishes.

The 49-year-old has been working as a pundit in TV since retirement.

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