Move south was lift Jenas wanted

Last updated : 21 April 2006 By Editor

Looking back over his decision to swap the north east for north London, Jenas said: "I thought the Champions League was possible when I came here. I'm not going to discredit what Arsenal and Arsène Wenger have done, all that success, league titles and cups but I looked around the dressing-room here and knew right away we had the quality."

The midfielder who has built a tremendous understanding in the centre of midfield for much of it alongside Newcastle born Carrick also revealed more about his decision to quit Newcastle United to team up with some old friends from his Nottingham Forest days. Michael Dawson for one, who had stepped up a grade by joining Spurs eight months earlier and was breaking into the first team when he arrived.

"I didn't say anything about ‘Living in a goldfish bowl' but it was something that got built up and built up until it was this huge thing. I just wasn't developing as a footballer at Newcastle and it was also frustrating because I've never been involved in problems outside of football so I don't know where it (stories) came from."

Source: The Times