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The Athletic reporter Jack Pitt-Brooke has told The Athletic’s The View From The Lane Podcast that Arsenal were really close to signing Dejan Kulusevski in the January window, and their reluctance to agree anything other than a straight loan allowed Tottenham to come in and land the Swede.
Tottenham pipped the Gunners to securing Champions League football next year after emphatically beating relegated Norwich City 5-0 on the final day of the campaign to wrap up fourth spot in the English top flight.
The Swedish star yet again showed just how pivotal he has been to the Spurs cause since his move from Juventus in the January window, with two goals – the second an absolute worldie with his deadly left boot.
There were several key moments in the season. Certainly, the appointment of Antonio Conte was pivotal. But the final day of the January transfer window was also crucial for both north London clubs.
While Arsenal failed to add to their squad in January, their fierce rivals went and got Rodrigo Bentancur and Kulusevski just before the month ended.
Both players have proven to become two of the signings of the season due to their swift impact on Conte’s squad, and the latter has become the real difference-maker forming a formidable trio with two of the best attackers on the continent in Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.
The 22-year-old has gone on to score five goals and provide eight assists despite only playing the second-half of the campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Kulusevski is set to sign permanently. And if his form is a sign of what is to come, Tottenham have produced a masterstroke in bringing him in.
For Arsenal, the deal will be a particular blow. Not only has the winger helped Spurs to fourth. But he is also a player the Gunners wanted.
Gunners fans were well aware of the links in January. But Pitt-Brooke has now opened up on how close he came to moving to the Emirates, as well as the reason why the Gunners did not get a deal across the line.
“Arsenal were really close to getting Kulusevski on loan. They’d been speaking to Juventus but they couldn’t agree a deal because Juventus wanted more guarantees in terms of an option or obligation, which Arsenal didn’t want to do,” he told The View From The Lane Podcast.
“Arsenal just wanted the loan, so that move stalled. And then Paratici – who’s obviously been a huge fan of Kulusevski his whole career – he came in, he managed to do a more amenable deal to Juventus. And Kulusevski was delighted to go to Tottenham.
“He wanted to come here and work with Conte. But if Paratici hadn’t come in, maybe Arsenal would have come in and done a deal.”
Our thoughts…
Indeed, Mikel Arteta’s men missed a serious trick when they decided not to take up the opportunity in acquiring the Swedish magician.
Since arriving from Juventus on an initial loan deal on deadline day in January, Kulusevski has taken the Premier League by storm, registering five goals and eight assists from just 20 appearances.
No Spurs player has managed more assists in the top-flight this term, which is pretty remarkable and goes to show the impact he’s made in such a short space of time. He’s also averaging 1.4 key passes (second-most) and 1.4 shots (third-most) per game, via WhoScored.
Once described as “explosive” by his fellow countryman Marcus Allback, we’ve certainly seen that side of his game, and Arteta must well be thinking what might have been, had he acquired the former Juventus prospect.
AND in other news, “Come back” – “Extraordinary” £21.6m-rated on-loan Arsenal wonderkid desires Ligue 1 stay…
