The case for Sol Campbell

Tottenham's Sol Campbell is an obvious candidate to be England captain if the job does not go to David Beckham. The £20 million-rated Spurs skipper was consistently tipped to get the role when Kevin Keegan was in charge of England.

The former national team coach chose Campbell as his vice-captain and hinted that the 26-year-old Tottenham star would inherit the job when Tony Adams retired from international football.

In fact, Keegan made Campbell skipper for the friendly in Malta last summer which England won 2-1.

England's caretaker manager Peter Taylor gave Beckham the captain's armband for the November friendly against Italy - a game Campbell missed through injury.

With the Spurs defender fit again, new England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson faces a dilemma as he prepares to name his first captain to lead the team in the friendly against Spain a week tomorrow.

But Tottenham manager George Graham believes that being England skipper is not Campbell's priority.

He said: "I think Sol would be happy to be in the squad and in the team and if he was the captain, it would be a bonus for him.

"I don't think the captaincy is that important, especially in the teams I've had. There is a lack of captains, or leaders, about today although Tony Adams was an inspiration."

Spurs striker Les Ferdinand believes the two leading candidates share similarities with the player who led England in recent campaigns.

Ferdinand told Standard Sport: "Alan Shearer was in the same kind of mould as Beckham and Sol.

"They are not captains for what they do in the dressing rooms, although they do a bit.

"It is more for what they do on the pitch. Sol is captain of my club and he is a good one who leads by example. I also played alongside Shearer and, although he was a little bit more vocal, he was pretty much the same

"David is a probably a little bit more high profile because of Manchester United and all the talk is now about him. All I would say to the new England manager is do not forget about Sol."

Stockport's Finnish international Jarkko Wiss has experience of the Spurs skipper's strengths.

He played against Campbell in Finland's 0-0 draw with England in a World Cup qualifier last October.

When the two players met in an FA Cup tie on Saturday, Stockport lost 4-0 to Tottenham and Wiss had his boots broken after a tough challenge from Campbell.

Wiss said: "Sol is so strong that when we went into a normal tackle, he destroyed my new boots in the process. It was a fair tackle, but I felt it in my bones. My boots were torn and the sole ripped off. Campbell is a key man in the squad. For Spurs, although he never shouts, he is always guiding the other players and telling them where to go at set-pieces in a quiet and calm manner.

"He's not particularly vocal but not all good players are. It's about their personality and there's definitely an aura about Sol.

"He has the physique of a boxer and when I saw how big he is, I thought: 'Thank God I play in midfield.'"