Arsenal have made an early approach to sign a senior player straight from Tottenham, a move the north London giants have not pulled off since 1977.
The Gunners were left reeling on Thursday after news broke that Vinicius Junior had put pen to paper on a lucrative new six-year deal at Real Madrid. The Brazilian had been entering the last year of his contract with talks stuck in limbo, but Madrid and their star forward found common ground following a crisis sit-down at the club’s training base. Arsenal had been circling and were reportedly financially equipped to pull off what would have ranked among the Premier League’s biggest ever deals, but that route is now closed.
Attention has therefore shifted elsewhere as the Gunners continue strengthening a squad that has already added Club Brugge flyer Christos Tzolis, with Newcastle skipper Bruno Guimaraes also closing in. Centre-back is another area needing reinforcement, with William Saliba sidelined for the start of the season following back surgery. Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera are expected to pair up at the back in his absence, while new full-timer Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber offer cover there too, though both were mostly used at full-back last term — pushing Mikel Arteta to hunt for a more permanent fix.
That search has led Arsenal to Tottenham captain Cristian Romero, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano. He revealed the Gunners have made contact over the Argentine defender, though Spurs have made clear their preference is to move him on to a club outside England, with Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan both circling the 28-year-old.
Romano explained that Arsenal are actively shopping for a centre-back this window and confirmed Arsenal’s camp reached out to Romero’s representatives for information. He described the Arsenal-Tottenham dynamic as notoriously tense, noting it would be far simpler for Spurs to sanction a sale to Atletico than to their fierce rivals. Per Romano, only an unprecedented change of heart from Tottenham’s hierarchy would open the door for an Emirates move.
Atletico Madrid have reportedly emerged as front-runners for Romero and are already in talks with Spurs, while Inter’s pursuit has cooled as they focus on offloading Benjamin Pavard first. Should both suitors fail to close a deal, Arsenal may yet find themselves back in contention.
History isn’t on Arsenal’s side when it comes to direct Spurs signings. Sol Campbell remains the most notorious case, walking out of White Hart Lane as a free agent in 2001 before being unveiled at Arsenal in a move that still infuriates Spurs supporters to this day. William Gallas made the reverse journey nine years later after leaving Arsenal on a free transfer.
But an actual transfer fee changing hands between the two clubs hasn’t happened since 1977, when Tottenham cashed in on goalkeeper Pat Jennings following their relegation from the First Division. Jennings went on to rack up more than 300 appearances for the Gunners before hanging up his gloves in 1985 — and even returned to Spurs afterward to feature for their reserves ahead of Northern Ireland’s 1986 World Cup campaign.
