Tottenham have been unsuccessful in their bid to sign Adam Wharton’s Crystal Palace teammate Eberechi Eze.
The England international looked set for a £60m move to Spurs, before Arsenal swooped in and hijacked the deal following an injury to Kai Havertz.
TBR Football understand Eze is delighted and feels he has secured the move he always wanted.
Tottenham also hold an interest in the aforementioned Adam Wharton – although the Crystal Palace No.20 has suggested he too would reject Spurs.
Adam Wharton taps the Crystal Palace badge when asked about his future
Due to UEFA regulations, Crystal Palace had no choice but to let Gary Cotterill and his Sky Sports colleagues have access to training on Wednesday, ahead of the Conference League play-off against Fredrikstad on Thursday evening.
Cotterill was told to “give it a rest” by Eze as he warmed up, before attention turned towards Wharton, who overheard Sky Sports discussing his future.
In response, the England international went straight for his chest and tapped the Crystal Palace badge on his shirt – appearing to confirm he intends to stay in SE25 for this season at least.
TBR Football understand Thomas Frank admires Wharton and would love to have the Crystal Palace playmaker in north London, although his price tag of at least £100m is viewed as prohibitive internally at Tottenham.
Tottenham could cause Crystal Palace a problem after losing out on Eberechi Eze
TBR Football understand Spurs have enquired about Bilal El Khannouss of Leicester after Arsenal hijacked their deal for Eze.
The Leicester No.11 is valued around £30m after an impressive debut campaign with the Foxes last term, even scoring a sumptuous winner against Tottenham in N17.
However, sources informed TBR Football earlier this week that El Khannouss was nearing a move to Crystal Palace as a replacement for Eze, after talks with the Morocco international went well.
It now remains to be seen what happens with the African forward, as Tottenham currently have £60m burning a hole in their pocket after Eze chose Arsenal.