Blackpool boss Ian Holloway admits he feared his Leicester City experience would wreck their deal for DJ Campbell.
Holloway admitted being overjoyed to finally sign Campbell, 28, after admitting doubts about the deal going through due to his disastrous spell with the Foxes.
Holloway told The Gazette: "I probably had more sleepless nights over the last week or so of the transfer window than I've ever had in football, and that was because I was thinking about the DJ situation constantly.
"I was thinking that my allegiance - however short and however wrong it was at Leicester - might have stood in the way of him coming here, and I don't think I would have been able to live with myself if that had been the case.
"I honestly thought it might have been an issue, maybe between Mr Mandaric and myself, but thankfully sense prevailed. The stress of it all actually made me ill. All the time I was in Latvia last week I had a lump on my lip like a golf ball.
"It was a cold sore and I get them when I am stressed and tired out. It was so big that when I got back to England people thought I'd dropped a cigar on it! But that's all down to DJ really. I've wanted him so badly and I'd been putting so much energy into trying to get him.
"He is absolutely vital for this football club and the energy of it. Never has there been someone so well suited to a club as DJ is to Blackpool. I've always said that this club fits me like a glove, but I think it fits DJ even better.
"That is why we wanted to strengthen this summer, and I believe the new players have greatly improved the depth and quality of our squad."
