Almunia backs Campbell return

Campbell: Training with Gunners

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Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has revealed Sol Campbell is interested in returning to the club and would welcome him back into the squad.

The defender left the Gunners for Portsmouth in 2006 but has been without a club since cancelling his contract at Notts County after just one appearance last September.

Since then the 35-year-old has been working alongside his former team-mates at the club's London Colney training ground in a bid to maintain his fitness.

Campbell is now eligible to return to the game and has already attracted interest from several top-flight clubs.

Almunia is confident the former England star could be a useful addition to Arsene Wenger's squad as it would increase competition for places.

The Spaniard told Sky Sports News: "For Arsenal, any help from a player like Sol would be very welcome.

"Having him at Arsenal would mean there are more players fighting for places in the team and in the end that has to be good.

"Sol is desperate to play football again and doing that for Arsenal would be absolutely fantastic."

Back in title race

If Campbell were to return to the North Londoners he would be thrown straight into an enthralling title battle.

The Gunners had looked out of contention when they were defeated 3-0 at home by Chelsea in November, but since then they have battled back valiantly and were just four points behind Carlo Ancelotti's table-topping side prior to Saturday's clash with Everton.

Almunia has been delighted by that resurgence and insists the club are desperate to reclaim the Premier League title.

"I would love to fight until the end for the title because it is the biggest trophy domestically and has great tradition," he added.

"We will fight for every one of the three competitions we are still in, but we are especially hungry for the league trophy."

"After the Chelsea game nobody would have said that a few games later we would be just one point behind them, but we have done that and proved people wrong."