Ever since his autobiography came out last year, Sol Campbell has been in the headlines for sharing his views on many issues.

But it was not always that way for the 40-year-old who admitted that he would not have been ready for the backlash - positive or negative - a few years ago.

The former England, Arsenal and Tottenham defender was in town for the One Young World summit and sat down for a chat with Off The Ball's Joe Molloy.

He spoke about his interests which were different to the stereotyped view of a Premier League footballer.

"I wasn't only playing football. In my spare time, I wasn't going to play golf. I wanted to see the fabric of the city that I was going to spend one month in," said Campbell, who is taking his coaching badges and says he now looks at football in a different way to his own career.

Previously reticent when dealing with the media, he has also sensed a change in himself in recent years when it comes to his public dealings, as he told Joe: "I took a hell of a long time to be me."

"The only way I could get through games and protect myself was to close ranks and that's the way I felt, because I saw other players open up and get torn to shreds and I said that's not going to be me." 

He also opened up about his childhood and how being the youngest of 12 by a distance affected him growing up and made him a "watcher" and very inquisitive.

Campbell also opened up about the effect of his controversial transfer from Tottenham to Arsenal and the abuse from the stands that followed him from then on.

He also reminisced about the happier times and "privilege" of being part of the Arsenal Invincibles.