Arsenal are reportedly at risk of suffering a serious transfer blow as Tottenham are said to have made a late move to sign William Saliba.
As noted by The Guardian, it had been touted that the Gunners were on the verge of wrapping up a €30m deal for the Saint Etienne starlet.
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It was claimed that the 18-year-old was set to be loaned back to the French outfit for a season, while ‘only minor details’ were left to sort out to confirm a deal and a five-year contract.
However, it appears as though Arsenal were a little further away than that in securing a transfer, as BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein has tweeted a translation of RMC Sport’s Mohamed Bouhafsi’s update below, stating that Tottenham are looking to hijack that move even though it’s so late in the day.
Time will tell if Mauricio Pochettino is successful in convincing the teenager to move to Spurs instead, but with the appeal of Champions League football and a more immediate project to compete for major honours, it could be enough to ensure there is a late twist in this transfer saga.
As noted by BBC Sport, Spurs have already smashed their club transfer record with the €60m signing of midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, and so if they were to manage to snatch Saliba out of Arsenal’s hands, that would be another quality young player added to the squad while simultaneously leaving their bitter rivals stunned over missing out.
It would be a real blow for Arsenal who missed out on Champions League qualification again last season, and coupled with Spurs opening their stadium and spending big, there could be an argument that the tide is very much turning in north London and this kind of scenario won’t help in stopping it.
Negotiations between Arsenal, Saint Etienne and Saliba were in their very final stages – much of it already in the hands of lawyers to agree wording of contracts etc – but Tottenham have reignited their interest and are now pushing hard to get the deal completed #AFC #THFC #ASSE https://t.co/8uihItY3eS
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 12, 2019
