I’m an Arsenal legend who won three titles – I didn’t want to leave but I had to

Nigel Winterburn says he didn't want to leave Arsenal after spending 13 years with the club.

The full-back, who made an impressive 577 appearances for the Gunners after joining from Wimbledon in 1987, picked up an array of silverware during his tenure - including two First Division titles, a Premier League, two FA Cups, a League Cup, and a European Cup Winners' Cup.

Despite his long-standing tenure, which had many tag him as one of the elite left-backs of his era, Winterburn ultimately moved to West Ham United in 2000.

Reflecting on that period and his reluctance to leave Highbury, Winterburn told Mirror Football via William Hill: "I came from Wimbledon to Arsenal, I think my first six months for me were probably the hardest. I'm joining a huge club from a team that's come up through the ranks.

"But it's still the same thing, and I say it all the time - when you're used to playing regularly to not playing, even though you're moving to, let's say, a better club, a bigger club with a huge history, I love the atmosphere of matchday.

"So I found that very, very difficult for a long period of time, but once I started to break in - initially at right-back and occasionally at left-back - and then the following season, I was pretty much in full-time and I played most of the time if I was fit throughout my career at Arsenal, probably apart from the last six months.

"And that was really the only time when I think then I decided that it was hard for me to be able to understand mentally that you're not going to be playing once every six weeks, maybe when you've been playing regular and apart from six months you've done it for 17 years.

"I realised that maybe I didn't want to leave Arsenal but I had to really to be able to motivate and keep that passion going for playing, because I loved playing. I don't think there was any period that I knew of where anybody was trying to poach me or buy me, that's for sure.

"They didn't give me a call if they were. So let's play it on the positive, and the club kept it a secret from me." Winterburn went on to make 92 appearances for West Ham before retiring in 2003.