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Frank will not be happy | Getty Images
Arsenal look to have trumped Tottenham in a £60million transfer race.
The younger brother says to the older brother: “Are you hungry?” The older brother replies: “No.” The younger brother goes to the fridge, gets a chocolate bar and returns to his seat to unwrap it. The older brother says: “Give that here.” The younger brother replies: “But you said you weren’t hungry?” The older brother gets up, grabs the chocolate bar and says: “Yeah, but that looks nice.”
Arsenal are the older brother in that scenario, and Tottenham are the younger. The Gunners are about to hijack Spurs’ bid to land Eberechi Eze, agreeing a £60million deal of their own and progressing quickly to continue their huge spending streak this summer.
Eze may prefer a move to Arsenal, but this is a real flex from the Gunners, who made Spurs their little brother by storming in and getting a deal done just as Tottenham looked set to sign the perfect replacement for James Maddison, who has lost much of his season to a knee injury.
From Tottenham’s point of view, this may be difficult with Eze perhaps preferring a move to Arsenal. but they are never going to get out of this little brother role unless they buck the trend. This is not a new trend, either, with Chelsea pulling off something similar with Willian.
You have to wonder why Spurs couldn’t tack on an extra £5million to get on top in the race, and that would, at the very least, sent a message to Arsenal that if they are going to hijack their deals, they will have to pay a premium to do so. Instead, Arsenal will spend the same amount as Tottenham were intending to and still get the deal done.
This was a deal Tottenham desperately needed, while it is a luxury for Arsenal in many ways. The Gunners do need better competition for Martin Odegaard, as proven early last season, but it is a position they could have lived with. As for Tottenham, they cannot afford not to replace the injured Maddison, and they could have done with a player who is already proven in the Premier League.
Daniel Levy may be a sensible businessman, but there comes a point where you need to slap money on the table because your need outweighs your need to get the perfect deal. This should have been one of those situations, with Eze clearly a brilliant talent and likely a signing that would have made an immediate impact.
As it is, Arsenal now look set to benefit from that, landing another luxury piece after a summer of big spending. Though, you do wonder how they are going to afford to buy a striker if Havertz’s injury is serious, and how they are going to balance spending in any case, with sales now required.
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