Chelsea and Spurs wanted me but I joined Arsenal - it was the most terrible decision

Mel Charles once confessed that his record-breaking transfer to Arsenal was the "most terrible choice I ever made".

Charles had a successful 20-year career, which included captaining Wales and representing his country at the 1958 World Cup. The former footballer, who sadly passed away at the age of 81 in 2016, was a member of the squad when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual champions Brazil, with Pelé scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory.

Just a year after the tournament in Sweden, Charles, who had spent seven years in the Second Division, secured a £42,750 move from his childhood club Swansea City to the Gunners who were in the First Division. This was amid reported interest from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

The transfer set a new record as the largest deal ever brokered between two British clubs. It occurred just two years after Juventus had paid Leeds United £65,000 for his older brother, John Charles.

However, the high-profile move didn't pan out for the younger Charles. Due to persistent ligament injuries, he only played 64 matches for the Gunners over three years, scoring 28 goals, reports the Mirror.

In his ghost-written autobiography, Charles was particularly critical of his own decision to join the club, stating "signing for Arsenal was the most terrible choice I ever made." He severed ties with the club in 1962 and returned to Wales, signing for Cardiff City for £28,500.

It was in Cardiff that Charles clinched the only domestic honour of his career, winning the Welsh Cup in 1964. After a three-year spell with Cardiff, he spent the twilight years of his career in the lower tiers of football, having stints with clubs such as Porthmadog, Port Vale, Oswestry Town and Haverfordwest.

He eventually hung up his boots at the Welsh club in 1972 after a five-year tenure. Charles finished with a record of 122 goals in 401 league and cup matches in the Football League. His brother John followed suit by also returning to Wales to retire in 1974 after a two-year stint playing for Merthyr Tydfil.

However, this came after an illustrious career where he became a legendary figure for both Leeds United and Juventus. The centre-forward netted 154 goals in 317 appearances for Leeds before making a successful move to Italian football.

During his five-year stay in Turin, Charles scored 105 goals in 179 matches and won three Serie A titles and two Coppa Italias. Charles passed away aged 71 in 2004 but remains a revered figure in Welsh football and was named by Stan Collymore among the greatest players in British history when dismissing claims that Gareth Bale is the best player to ever hail from Britain.

The former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest star stated in 2023: "It's quite bizarre because of how many Champions Leagues he has won and the run he went on at Spurs that turned him from someone who couldn't win a Premier League game to a tour de force.

"And because of the trophies you have to put him in amongst the greatest ever. But I look at Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, John Charles - which would obviously mean a lot to Bale - Ian Rush, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard and, I don't know what it is, whether it's this perceived laissez faire attitude of 'Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order', but I can't put him in with some of those."

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