Tottenham Hotspur have suffered the ultimate embarrassment of being usurped in the transfer market by north London rivals Arsenal. Spurs looked set to secure the signature of sought-after Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze until Mikel Arteta's Gunners swooped in at the last minute to complete a sensational transfer hijack.
Eze - a full England international - has slowly risen in prominence in the Premier League. His dazzling displays at Selhurst Park have left supporters in awe at his quick feet and relentless belief in his own ability. A gutting failure from a Tottenham perspective, but an almighty coup for their greatest rivals.
It's not the first time the club have felt such pain in the transfer market, either. Sol Campbell made perhaps the most controversial move in English football history when he ran his contract down at White Hart Lane, only to rock up at Highbury on a free transfer in 2001. Another transfer saga that left those on the white side of north London red-faced came in 2013.
Tottenham Suffered a Hijacked Transfer to Chelsea in 2013
Chelsea's Willian celebrates scoring their first goal
Spurs looked to have won the race for Anzhi Makhachkala winger Willian in 2013, ahead of Premier League rivals Liverpool. Manager at the time, Andre Villas-Boas, was convinced the deal was over the line before being left bitterly disappointed.
Gareth Bale had swapped White Hart Lane for the Santiago Bernabeu that summer, meaning Villas-Boas was armed with an extra £85 million to spend on rebuilding his squad. However, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich stepped in and hijacked the deal for the Brazilian forward.
Willian himself has spoken about the ordeal, recalling the threats made to him after he showed up for his Spurs medical before having a change of heart. Explaining his decision to move to Stamford Bridge instead during a 2018 interview, he told Brazilian TV show Resenha (per talkSPORT):
"I said, ‘So make do, I’ll get back in the van, you’ll make do, and I’ll go to Chelsea, I will not sign with Tottenham.'
"I stayed there for eight hours in the training centre. Tottenham's director said 'I'm going to report you to FIFA, this and that, fans here in England will boo you, this and that.' They made up a lot of things."
Despite Tottenham's best attempts at stopping Willian's move from being hijacked by their city rivals, his heart was set on the west London switch. He added: "I got stuck there for eight hours. Then I left, and I went straight to meet the Chelsea people to sort the details and sign."
Willian's Sour Relationship With Spurs Since Failed Move
willian fulham
There was never any going back for the former Shakhtar Donetsk man in the eyes of Tottenham supporters. They felt betrayed and let down. That didn't stop Chelsea fans from taking every opportunity possible to rub it in their London rivals' faces. During games between the two clubs, the blue section of the crowd could be heard chanting:
"The s*** from Spurs, they booked his flight, but Willian, he saw the light, he got a call from Abramovich, and off he went to Stamford Bridge, he hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham and he hates Tottenham!"
Even Blues manager at the time, Jose Mourinho, got in on the act. The self-appointed Special One joked: "That's the danger of medicals before contracts."
Willian Joined Tottenham's Biggest Rivals - But Flopped
Willian Arsenal
After an extremely successful seven-year stint at the Bridge, Willian risked his reputation among the fan base by making a free transfer switch to Arsenal in the summer of 2020. Having let his contract expire at Chelsea, his move to the Emirates caused the Brazil international to really cement himself as a villain in Spurs fans' eyes.
Luckily for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful, his Arsenal career was an almighty flop. After spending just one season at the club, Willian departed the English giants with only one goal to his name by mutual consent.
He later admitted regret at the move, labelling it 'the most difficult time' of his entire career. The former Spurs target went on record to express his disappointment surrounding his time as a Gunner:
"It didn’t work, it didn’t work. It was, of course, the most difficult time of my career.
"It was big money that I gave up [to leave Arsenal]. But sometimes money is not the most important thing in life. I think you need to be happy, get pleasure every day waking up in the morning to go to train. I wasn’t having that."
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 22-08-25.