Carrick reveals how close he was to joining Arsenal

Michael Carrick was just a day away from joining Arsenal before Cesc Fabregas changed Arsene Wenger's mind.

In the summer of 2004, Carrick was angling for a move away from West Ham, who had dropped to the First Division the previous season.

The midfielder, who at the time had just turned 23, wanted to get back into the top flight in order to further progress his career.He spoke to then-Everton boss David Moyes on the phone about a potential move, while Ian Dowie was particularly keen to take him at Crystal Palace.

But it was Harry Redknapp, then in charge of Portsmouth, who showed the most interest. When Carrick and his agent David Geiss were on their way to the south coast, David Dein, who was vice-chairman at Arsenal, phoned to express the club's interest.

Carrick met with Portsmouth and arranged to undergo a medical – it all seemed nailed on that he would be going there. On the way back, however, the Gunners came calling again.

'On the way home (from Portsmouth), we got another call,' recalls Carrick in his autobiography, Michael Carrick: Between the Lines, which is being serialised by The Times. 'Arsenal again, asking us to meet Arsene. As it happened we were driving past his home in north London, so we arranged to call in on the way. Within an hour I was sitting in the front room of Arsene Wenger’s house, pinching myself.

Could this really be happening? Arsenal! Could I really be on the verge of signing for the Invincibles who’d just gone through the season unbeaten?

'We talked for almost an hour about football. Wenger had the Community Shield at the weekend but was spending an hour with me, so surely he had to be interested in signing me? “Let’s get Cardiff out the way, and we’ll see you Monday,” Wenger said as we left. Things were moving so fast I needed a few minutes to put it all into perspective.

'That night, I sat at the bottom of my bed and talked it through with Lisa, just running all the possibilities through my mind. It came from nowhere. My head was spinning. Arsenal were finishing either first or second in the Premiership. Lisa knows I’m not a big talker and tend to keep things to myself and find a way to deal with it. This was different.

'I was moving from the First Division to a team in the Champions League. I’d heard [Patrick] Vieira was leaving Arsenal and that opened up a space in midfield, so it seemed nailed on that Monday morning I’d be an Arsenal player.'

What followed, however, would drastically change the course of Carrick's career – and it was through no fault of his own.

Wenger's side were playing Manchester United that Sunday in Cardiff and when Carrick said down to watch what he thought his soon-to-be side play, he did not realise the ensuing 90 minutes would alter his path drastically.

'I saw that a kid, Cesc Fabregas, only 17, started in Vieira’s place. Fabregas played a blinder but I didn’t think too much about the significance. I sat at home on Sunday night waiting for the call to arrange details of the next day. Arsenal! I couldn’t wait.

'But I waited, and waited, and that call never came. The next day, I had to go into training at West Ham instead and, on the way, David phoned to say he’d had a call from Dein. David relayed the gist of his message, like, “I’m sorry, the manager says we don’t need Michael. Fabregas is coming through like he is. Sorry, the deal’s off.” Fabregas’s performance changed Wenger’s mind about needing me.'

As it transpired, however, Tottenham came calling – seemingly out of nowhere.

Then-sporting director Frank Arnesen called and told Carrick he wanted to bring through a strong core of young English players.

Carrick bought into Spurs' idea and believed their style of play suited him down to the ground.

He phoned his parents and told them he was moving to a north London club – the arch rivals of the team who turned him away.