Eberechi Eze was expected to join Tottenham in the summer before Arsenal swooped to sign the England international
Thomas Frank has responded to questions regarding Eberechi Eze's rumoured transfer to Tottenham Hotspur over the summer.
Eze was heavily linked with a move away from Crystal Palace during the summer transfer window. Unlike some other players, the Englishman continued to feature for the Eagles until his £67.5m move to Arsenal earlier this season.
The 27-year-old closed out his time at Palace with an FA Cup and a Community Shield. Eze is now enjoying life at Arsenal, but there was a moment where he looked set to join Spurs instead.
Tottenham had struck a deal with Palace in the summer, but Mikel Arteta's side hijacked the move and secured Eze’s talents for themselves. An injury to Kai Havertz accelerated Arsenal's desire to sign the attacking midfielder.
Ahead of this weekend's North London Derby, Tottenham manager Frank was asked whether he thought the club had secured the deal for Eze before Arsenal swooped in for the England international.
With a straight face, Frank replied: "Who's Eze?" After a moment of laughter from reporters who recognised he was joking, the Spurs boss added: "Very good player. He plays for Arsenal – a team we want to beat on Sunday."
Now a few months have passed since Eze chose Arsenal over their bitter rivals, Frank can laugh about it. However, looking back at the time the deal collapsed, it didn’t seem a laughing matter for the 52-year-old.
Without naming any players, Frank said in August: “There's been a lot of rumours – and a lot of times where there's nothing in it. There must be someone out there who thinks it's good fun to put the rumours out there.
"There's been a lot of links and will continue to be. To be very general, I don't want any players who don't want to come to the club.
"If they don't want to come here and wear this fantastic badge, we don't want them here. That's very clear, and I imagine the fans feel exactly the same. That's a key message."
Eze, a childhood Arsenal fan, has since explained why he chose the Gunners. He said: “I thought about coming back from the moment I understood other clubs and what it meant to become a pro.
"I've always thought: 'Arsenal is where it's at, that's what I want to achieve, what I want to get to.' I've been on trial for four years, if I'm being honest.
"Every time I came to Arsenal, I looked at the seat that I used to sit on when I used to come to games with my brothers, and I've said every single time: 'this is it – it's time, this is an opportunity.' I'm not going to say I knew it was going to happen, but that's the feeling."
Frank will now be focused on beating Arsenal on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium. If he is to do so, he would become the first manager to beat Arsenal away from home in the league since Harry Redknapp in 2010.