CHRIS SUTTON was once the most expensive Premier League signing in history – but he almost scuppered the deal after being arrested.
The former England international was on the brink of joining Blackburn from Norwich in 1994.
News Group Newspapers LtdChris Sutton joined Blackburn for £5m[/caption]
And to celebrate the deal, Sutton went out for some farewell drink with his team-mates.
But after one too many led to a drunken crash, Sutton found himself nicked and fearing his dream transfer would collapse.
He told FourFourTwo: “I’d gone out for a drink with Bryan Gunn and a few of the others, and ended up driving into this convertible car.
“I bent the indicator of it a bit and got arrested – banged up.
“I was worried about the move collapsing and Kenny Dalglish pulling the plug on the deal.”
Thankfully for Sutton, he was released and the next day he joined Dalglish’s Blackburn for a then-record £5m deal.
And he joked the only man he feared more than his former manager was his dad Mike.
He joked: Worse than that, though, I was thinking: ‘My dad is going to mad’… And he did.”
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS
Sutton went on to help Blackburn lift the title in his first season, scoring 15 goals alongside Alan Shearer.
But just four years later, the club suffered a sad decline and were relegated in 1999.
Sutton would subsequently leave for Chelsea while Shearer had already joined boyhood club Newcastle two seasons earlier.
The forward retired in 2007 after an eye injury but in 2012 he came on as a sub for his one and only game for non-league side Wroxham.
Sutton had a brief managerial run with Lincoln City for one season in 2009 and has since worked in punditry.
Willie VassChris Sutton is now a football pundit[/caption]