An Arsenal attacker reportedly turned down the chance to move to Tottenham back in 2023 before agreeing on a switch to the Emirates Stadium.
While Tottenham finished above their North London rivals for six seasons in a row under Mauricio Pochettino, there has been a huge shift in the balance of power since then.
Arsenal have now been crowned Premier League champions while the Lilywhites came dangerously close to being relegated from the top-flight this season.
That is why Eberechi Eze rejected Tottenham’s advances in favour of a move to Arsenal last summer, and it has now been revealed that another Premier League star did the same 12 months prior.
Leandro Trossard rejected Tottenham before Arsenal switch
According to Het Belang van Limburg (as relayed by Sport Witness), Tottenham attempted to sign Leandro Trossard from Brighton just before he made a move to Arsenal.
It is explained that then Brighton manager, Roberto De Zerbi, had a falling out with the Belgian international when he returned from the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
The Italian made Trossard train on his own at Brighton, which convinced him to leave at the end of that season.
That is when Tottenham made an offer for the versatile wide-forward, while his agent also held talks with Marseille, but Arsenal managed to poach him after losing out to Chelsea in the battle for Mykhailo Mudryk.
How Fabrizio Romano aided Arsenal’s efforts to land Trossard
Het Belang van Limburg also spoke to the Arsenal man’s agent, Josy Comhair, who explained how his client’s move to the Emirates Stadium came about.
He revealed that transfer guru Fabrizio Romano was the one who gave him the contact details of Arsenal’s sporting director, thus laying the groundwork for the 31-year-old’s switch to Mikel Arteta’s side.
Comhair told the outlet: “I didn’t have the number of Arsenal’s sporting director. So, I asked Fabrizio Romano, the transfer guru. He gave it to me, on the condition that he could know everything. When Arsenal called a little later, I was sitting on a paint can thinking.”