Now retired from football at the age of 35, Philippe Senderos can look back on a rather impressive career; one that saw him rack up 57 caps for Switzerland over an 18 year career.
He also spent a very large portion of said career (seven years, to be exact) at Arsenal, where he played under Arsène Wenger, featuring 117 times for the Gunners and scoring four goals.
Then came a three and a half year spell at Fulham before leaving on a free for Valencia in January 2014, but his time at Craven Cottage could have, and probably should have, ended the previous summer.
Speaking on Instagram to the account ‘En Intimité’, the former Switzerland international looked back on a failed transfer that would have seen him head to Parma in Italy.
He said, relayed by RTS: “I had done the entire preseason with Fulham, but I hadn’t played a game. I had one last conversation with the manager. I told him he was the worst manager I’d ever had! I had contact with Parma, I went there and signed a contract with the director.
“We were already looking for a house over there with my family. When I returned to the airport to join the national team, my agent phoned me and told me there was no deal with Parma. Fulham wanted a player exchange and it didn’t get done. I then had to return to Fulham”.
The manager at the time will have been Martin Jol, who had been in charge at Craven Cottage since 2011, and would be replaced by René Meulensteen come December 2013.
However, his exit was only delayed by a few months, as he finally got the move away from London he was looking for when Valencia came knocking.
He explained: “I was at the hotel with Fulham. I had the option of going to Valencia. The club were okay with me leaving. My agent told me he couldn’t come and he would send me the contracts at the hotel. I was then at reception, printing the pages to sign my contract.
“I asked the receptionist to send it all back! At dinner with the team, Sky Sports was on the TV. The ticker at the bottom of the screen announced I would be signing for Valencia. After dinner, I got up, I shook everyone’s hand and I left. I was in Valencia the next day”.
Talk about taking matter into your own hands…
