Tottenham Hotspur are plotting revenge over Arsenal for the Eberechi Eze hijack – by taking a player they want to sign.
Recently Tottenham were described as having a free run to sign Eze, with their North London rivals said to be out of the picture to sign the England international – though the Crystal Palace star reported for training on Wednesday ahead of Conference League duty this Thursday.
In a huge twist, however, Arsenal last night agreed terms to sign former Hale End academy graduate Eze in a late steal, as per David Ornstein of The Athletic.
Tottenham Hotspur steaming ahead to sign major Arsenal target
The Eze debacle leaves Spurs manager Thomas Frank without a creative spark in the absence of James Maddison, who is ruled out for much of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and Dejan Kulusevski, who also has a knee injury that Frank has spoken of not wanting to “put a timeline” on the return of.
On top of this, club captain Son Heung-min departed for Major League Soccer over the summer, leaving Spurs light in the left-wing area – opening the door for a potential superstar to arrive in the shape of Rodrygo, who is ranked at no.6 in FourFourTwo's list of the best right wingers in the world right now.
According to Thursday’s edition of Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, via Sport Witness, however, the Lilywhites may look to address both areas with the signing of Rodrygo.
FourFourTwo understands that the Gunners were extremely keen on an ambitious move to bring the Brazilian to North London in their own quest for an upgrade on the left-wing, as incoming Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso looks to put his stamp on Los Blancos.
Defensa Central claims now that Spurs are the only option for Rodrygo, stating that Real would be keen on letting the 24-year-old go if the North Londoners cover his full salary.
It's also reported that Tottenham and Real Madrid are considering a purchase option.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, these rumours make sense – but given that the Eze rejection has only happened in the past 18 hours, pivoting to Rodrygo quite so quickly would be out of character for chairman Daniel Levy.
While it's likely that dialogue will reopen between the two clubs over a move, this is a saga that will likely drag on until the end of the transfer window, given the expense involved in the deal and Tottenham's stance of not wanting to overpay for major targets.
Rodrygo is worth €90 million, according to Transfermarkt.
