Leandro Trossard’s agent has opened up on how Tottenham lost out to Arsenal in the race to sign the Belgian forward.
The 28-year-old linked up with the Gunners from Brighton earlier in the week in a deal rising to £27million.
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But it was actually Spurs that were first in for the ex-Genk star after having a £12m bid knocked back by the Seagulls.
In swooped Arsenal, after they missed out on Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea, to close the transfer within a day of negotiations.
Antonio Conte had eyed up the versatile forward as an option to provide competition with Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son.
But Trossard’s representative has claimed that Spurs dithered in their discussions, allowing their north London rivals to pip them to his signature.
Quoted by the Mirror, Josy Comhair said: “Spurs were in contact with us for the last two weeks.
“But it was ‘we want him, but wait this, wait that’.
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“Wednesday we got in touch with Arsenal – 24 hours later they had an agreement.”
In a separate interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, Comhair remarked: “I called [Arsenal sporting director] Edu Gaspar on Wednesday.
“I explained the situation. Before the World Cup we agreed that Leandro wouldn’t sign a new deal with Brighton.
“So they had to sell him now. Marseille were interested, I also talked to Tottenham. But they wanted to wait.”
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lauded Trossard in his pre-match conference ahead of Sunday’s clash against Manchester United, where the player could make his debut.
Speaking of Trossard, Arteta stated: “We are really happy to have him. He’s a player we have followed for a while now.
“The opportunity came – we had the necessity to have a player in the frontline who is versatile enough to play in different positions.
“He knows the league, he has enough experience here and I think he can have an immediate impact in the team.
“We have to think short-term, but medium and long-term as well. He gives us all of that. He’s a very intelligent player.
“When you look at his career and what he’s done in the last few years, he’s a player that fits our way of playing.”
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