Arsenal’s rivals Tottenham Hotspur have made several terrible signings in recent years.
The Gunners have been far superior to Spurs – not just historically, but in the last few seasons as well – and one of the reasons behind that is their recruitment.
Mikel Arteta has signed difference-makers like Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi, while many of the players Spurs have recruited have underwhelmed.
Bryan Gil is one such player, and Arsenal have Spurs to thank for not bringing him to the Emirates Stadium.
Send us your early North London Derby score predictions, how bold are you feeling?
Tottenham signing Bryan Gil instead of Arsenal has been a blessing in disguise for the Gunners
Gil was viewed as one of the most exciting talents in Spain when he broke into the Sevilla first team.
The versatile attacker was linked with a number of top clubs, including Arsenal and Barcelona.
AS have revealed now that the Gunners did knock on Gil’s door in the summer of 2022 and were interested in signing him.
MORE ARSENAL STORIES
However, Tottenham pounced out of nowhere, offering £21.6 million plus Erik Lamela to convince Sevilla to let their star youngster join Spurs. (Sky Sports)
Some Tottenham fans mocked Arsenal when they got Gil, but it’s the Gunners who have had the last laugh as they definitely dodged a bullet.
Throughout his time at Spurs, Gil played 43 games and failed to score a single goal. In his entire career where he has played over 200 games for club and country, he has found the net just 18 times.
Even Arteta’s worst signings – Raheem Sterling and Willian – managed more in their disastrous spells at the Emirates.
Who was Edu Gaspar’s worst signing at Arsenal? Willian, Raheem Sterling or someone else?
It has been the complete opposite when Arsenal have hijacked Tottenham’s moves
There have been many examples of Tottenham trying to sign a player and then failing because they preferred to join Arsenal.
One of them was William Saliba. The Frenchman snubbed Spurs for the Gunners in 2019, and he is now arguably the best defender in the world.
The more recent example is Eberechi Eze. Arsenal hijacked Tottenham’s move in the eleventh hour in the summer, and the Englishman scored a stunning hat-trick in his North London Derby debut.
With another derby coming up on Sunday, Arsenal fans will be hoping to see the same again from Eze, who looked much better in the game against Wigan.
It will be interesting to see how he will fare if he starts.