Chris Sutton gained a place in British football's history books as the subject of the first £5million transfer between two British clubs. This occurred in July 1994 when he joined Kenny Dalglish's big spending Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn were not the only side willing to pay this sum of money for Sutton's striking talents in 1994. Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United, Liverpool, Rangers and Inter Milan were all linked to him via the back pages of the tabloids. Why then was Sutton such hot property ? The answer must be the 43 goals that he scored for Norwich in 127 games. This figure is all the more impressive when you consider that 14 of these appearances were as substitute and that Chris had often been deployed as a central defender. His tally of 28 goals in the 1993/94 season was the highest ever achieved by a Norwich player in the top flight. Sutton enjoyed a meteoric success rate, making his first team debut against Queen's Park Rangers in May 1991 at the age of 18. This was just two years after his Norwich youth debut against Millwall in April 1989. He gained England Under 21 and England B caps whilst with the Canaries but his international career has faltered whilst at Blackburn. In addition to Sutton's obvious ability, he was seen as wise and level headed player following in his father's footsteps. Mike Sutton played 54 games for Norwich between 1963 and 1966. Chris' level-headiness was not always in control and the night before he signed his contract with Blackburn, was spent in police cells following a fracas in Norwich city centre. All in all, £5 million for Sutton was an excellent fee for a player who had only just topped 100 first team appearances. The shame is that chairman Robert Chase did not invest this sum into the side. The loss of Mike Walker, Ruel Fox and Sutton saw Norwich relegated from the Premiership the following season. The question is where did the money go ? In his first season with Rovers, he formed a formidable partnership with Alan Shearer and this SAS partnership led to the Premiership championship. His second season at Ewood park was marred by injury whilst his third was spent without Shearer who had joined Newcastle United for £15 million in the summer of 1996. He began the 1997/98 season in blistering form scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa at Villa Park. This was followed by a brace in the 7-2 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday. Tabloid newspapers linked him with a move to Arsenal to replace the ageing Ian Wright. Sutton's performances won him selection into the England squad for the friendly international against Cameroon on 15th November 1997 and he made his international debut coming on as a substitute for Paul Scholes in the last ten minutes of the 2-0 victory. An international career and a place in Glenn Hoddle's England squad for the 1998 World Cup in France looked assured for the versatile Sutton who can play as centre-half as well as up front. However when the squads were announced for the February friendly with Chile, Sutton found himself dropped to the England B team having been replaced in the full team by Liverpool's Michael Owen and Coventry's Dion Dublin. Chris angrily stated that he was offended by this considering his current form and that if Hoddle didn't want him for the full team then Chris would not play for the B side either. This much-publicised dispute resulted in Chris being effectively ruled out of any future England squads whilst Hoddle was the National team's manager. Sutton's absence from the England squad has not diminished the level of interest from other clubs in the early part of the 1998/99 season. Tottenham were linked in early September for a double bid for Sutton and his Blackburn teammate Tim Sherwood. Spurs' interest in Sherwood has been maintained with bids rejected by Blackburn manager Roy Hodgson. On 7th October 1998, the national press reported that Aston Villa manager John Gregory was willing to splash out on Sutton from the money received from Manchester United for Dwight Yorke. Gregory's bid varied from paper to paper with The Independent stating a total of £11million whilst The Mirror suggested £10million and The Telegraph opting for £8million. However Blackburn issued a curt statement that Sutton was not for sale and that he was under contract until June 2003. Blackburn also revealled that there had been no formal contact rather that John Gregory had made a private phone call to Roy Hodgson. Blackburn's hope of letting such transfer specualtion die did not materialise as George Graham, newly appointed as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, bid £10milllion for Sutton's services. A £15million joint bid for Sutton and Sherwood was suggested in the 18th November 1998 issue of the Daily Mirror. Villa manager John Gregory was said to be willing to equal this offer although his signing of Dion Dublin may reduce his interest. It now remains to see whether Blackburn will cash in on Sutton, a move that would earn Norwich a sum as part of the sell-on clause. The News of the World speculated on 28th February 1999 that Chris was the primary target of Chelsea who were willing to spend £10million on Sutton. However he has publicly denied that there is any truth in the rumours linking him with Stamford Bridge. Blackburn's relegation from the Premiership has led to more speculation concerning Chris' future with Aston Villa supposedly preparing a £10million bid whilst Chelsea are also interested. The Evening Standard claimed on May 19th that Chris was the prime target this summer for Tottenham manger George Graham who wished to link Chris with former Norwich and Blackburn teammate Tim Sherwood. A £10million bid was supposedly being prepared. Football news service Team Talk cliamed that Leeds and Middlesboro were keen on securing Chris' signature although the Daily Mirror reported that Boro Assistant Manager Viv Anderson thought the £12million price quoted for Sutton was too high. It looks for certain though that Chris will move this summer but to which club has still to be determined. According to Sport First on 6th June 1999, both Manchester United and Leeds are said to be interested in signing Sutton. Whatever the outcome, Norwich City can look forward to a third of the transfer fee. It appears unlikely that Chris would join Tottenham as they see Leicester's Emile Heskey as better vale. Heskey would cost £7million compared to a minimum of £10m for Sutton. This leaves Chelsea as front runners to sign Sutton. Chelsea eventually got their man in July 1999 signing Sutton for £10million with approximately £500,000 going to the Canaries as part of the sell-on clause. Chris made his Chelsea debut in a pre-season friendly at Birmingham City on 17th July 1999 but did not look like he had built up a good understanding with his colleagues. In terms of those ex-Canaries who have worn Chelsea blue, will he be the next Andy Townsend or a Stamford Bridge flop like Robert Fleck. The News of the World suggested the following day that Chris might be a £10m supersub at the beginning of the season. There is little doubt considering the return of goals in his first 6 months with Chelsea, that Chris' spell in West London has not been productive. The arrival of former African Player of the Year George Weah, on loan from AC Milan until the end of the season, on January 11th may seal the end of Sutton's spell at Stamford Bridge. Weah became an instant hero, coming off the bench to score the winner on his debut against Spurs on 12th January 2000. Sutton, who ironically joined the game at the same time as Weah, may head for Leeds where Chairman Peter Risdale and manager David O'Leary are said to be interested and considering a £5million bid. On February 13th 2000, the Sunday People claimed that Celtic were interested in signing Chris prior to the sacking of John Barnes but that a bid might still happen. On 15th March 2000, Teamtalk suggested that Martin O'Neill would be spending some of the £11million received from the sale of Emile Heskey to Liverpool, on a new striker and that Chris was in the frame for a move to Filbert Street where he would team up once again with Darren Eadie. Reports in the Evening Standard around transfer deadline day suggested that George Graham was keen on bringing Chris to Spurs and that a bid may be made this summer. This story resurfaced on 26th March 2000 with the Sunday Mirror claiming that Spurs were preparing a £16m bid for Sutton and Man Utd's Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. Chris was frozen out of Chelsea' victorious FA Cup final squad on a day that the Blues were linked with a £17m move for Chilean striker Marcelo Salas as a direct replacment for Sutton. Another destination for Chris was suggested by Teamtalk on 6th June 2000 when it was suggested that he might return to the North West and join Joe Royle's Manchester City who have made enquiries about a £5million transfer. On 14th June 2000, two more names were added to the equation by Teamtalk. Everton were reported to have had a £5million bid rejected whilst Aston Villa and Chelsea were said to be considering a straight swap between Sutton and Villa's England international defender Gareth Southgate. By the weekend of 17/18th June, Chelsea had agreed a £6million transfer with Middlesbrough for Sutton's services but Celtic's new manager Martin O'Neill also submitted a bid of the same value for a player he has long admired. Chelsea have accepted both offers and now it is down to Sutton to decide his destination. Chris finally signed for Celtic on 10th July 2000 for £6million, a Scottish record and a sum that Martin O'Neill described as a snip considering his belief in Sutton's abilities.