Tottenham Hotspur come up against a familiar rival this weekend in the Premier League as the Lilywhites host Arsenal in the first North London Derby of the season.
Jose Mourinho will also be seeing a familiar face on Sunday as he faces his former player, Willian, after managing the winger for a period at Chelsea.
Tottenham were linked with signing Willian on a free contract in the summer transfer window after the Brazilian’s contract ran out at Chelsea.
In fact, Mundo Deportivo installed the Lilywhites as the favourites to snap up the experienced attacker at one point in the summer, as Mourinho himself was reportedly keen on managing Willian once more.
However, ESPN Brazil later revealed that, while Arsenal saw off plenty of competition to sign Willian, Spurs were not among the interested parties. The Brazilian eventually penned a three-year deal with the Gunners.
Speaking ahead of the North London Derby, Mourinho has now revealed that Spurs did not waste their time going for Willian as they knew that they could not compete with the wages of Arsenal.
Mourinho said (Football London): “He is still dangerous, he is still one of the best players in the Premier League. Apart from that, he is a good friend. I have nothing to hide in relation to that.
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“We keep in touch, we keep in contact, we call each other. We wish good things to each other. He is my friend and of course, he is a very good player.”
“We don’t have money for Willian.
“We cannot pay the wages that he gets at Arsenal so I didn’t want to waste our time because we cannot pay these wages.”
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