Arsenal and Tottenham may be massive rivals on the pitch, but in recent times, they’ve also been getting in each other’s way in the transfer market.
Indeed, you often hear about Spurs going for the same players at Arsenal, and in the summer it was a tale of two right-backs.
Spurs and Arsenal were both in the market for Emerson Royal and Takehiro Tomiyasu, and while Tottenham got their number one target in Emerson, Arsenal quite clearly got the better deal in signing the Japan international.
Indeed, while Royal has already lost his place in the Spurs starting XI to Matt Doherty, Tomiyasu has been brilliant for Arsenal and he’s been sorely missed during his time out with injury.
Arsenal certainly won that transfer battle in the summer, but in January, Tottenham have seemingly gotten their own back.
Indeed, according to the London Evening Standard, Arsenal tried to sign Dejan Kulusevski before he eventually moved to Spurs, and while Tottenham may have some regrets over Tomiyasu, they can rest easy in the knowledge that they beat Arsenal to the signing of a ‘special player’.
Kulusevski has been nothing short of a revelation since joining Spurs, and his performances have helped Spurs get well and truly back into the race for the top four.
Winning the Kulusevski saga has righted the wrong of losing out on Tomiyasu, and it will be a poetic irony if it’s Kulusevski’s performances that help Spurs pip the Gunners to a place in the Champions League.
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