With the 2015/16 Premier League fixtures to be announced in just seven days’ time, fans of both Arsenal and Tottenham will be looking for two dates in particular; the dates in which these best of North London rivals will be facing off with one another.
While a few of our resident Gooners in the tavern are claiming that they don’t even look for the Spurs game anymore, such is their superiority, others still claim Tottenham is still the biggest game of their season.
It is at this moment that a few of our Spurs regulars pipe up and claim that despite the Gunners winning the FA Cup, they actually failed to beat Tottenham in two attempts during 2013/14, a sign that it isn’t always plain sailing for the men from Ashburton Grove who nevertheless went on to celebrate St Totteringham’s Day once again this term.
But as our landlord mentions, Arsenal and Tottenham could be facing up to one another even before the season has kicked off with both the Gunners and Spurs having fought over the same transfer targets on multiple occassions in years gone by.
Spurs fans point to the fact that they were able to lure the likes of Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen to White Hart Lane when they might’ve joined Arsenal while Gooners can claim Danny Welbeck chose Emirates Stadium over a move to Spurs.
So running along this theme, we have identified five transfer targets we expect Arsenal and Tottenham to be fighting over this time around in the summer transfer window.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players Arsenal and Tottenham will fight over this summer.
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Carlos Bacca
At present, Arsenal are intensely linked with moves for Porto’s Jackson Martinez, Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette who are ultimately the three most attainable world class strikers on the market at present.
Out of the three, the majority of Gooners fancy a move for Martinez whose goal haul over in Portugal has been nothing short of scandalous in recent seasons.
Nevertheless, we have seen too often with Arsenal that despite the transfer window opening on July 1st, they often don’t get their asses into gear until August and you could imagine some of those players would’ve had their futures tied up by then.
If Arsenal repeat the old trick of missing out on numerous targets, perhaps they could then turn their attentions to Sevilla’s Europa League winning hero Carlos Bacca with Metro claiming that the Gunners were scouting him recently.
If Bacca is a plan B or C option for the Gunners, he seems more of a plan A signing for Spurs who desperately require somebody to take the scoring burden off of Harry Kane.
With one of Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado likely to depart, Tottenham are still being mentioned as a rumoured destination for the Colombian international.
Zakaria Bakkali
Remember him?
The Belgian wonderkid has fallen off the radar somewhat in recent times and this is all down to the fact that he simply hasn’t been playing top level football after being banned from the PSV Eindhoven first team after refusing a new contract at the Philips Stadion.
With PSV having already agreed to sell him this summer, somebody will be picking up an exciting talent that holds the record for being the youngest ever scorer of a hat-trick in Eredivisie history.
Having also won a full senior international cap with Belgian despite his 19 years, Bakkali is very much one for the future but also one to emerge from the bench in a super sub role.
Despite boasting the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott who can play in his position on the wing, the Gunners are still looking to beat Celtic and Liverpool to his signature according to The Express.
You feel a transfer to his other admirers in Tottenham would be far more worthwhile for Bakkali who would receive far more playing time at White Hart Lane while putting pressure on the likes of Andros Townsend and Erik Lamela who Spurs fans will admit blow hot and cold.
Spurs were described by Metro to have been in pole position to land the Belgian youngster this time last year.
Aymen Abdennour
One of the few things our resident Gooners and Lilywhites fans are actually in agreement with here in the Football Transfer Tavern is the fact that they could both do with another central defender.
We saw recently that Mauricio Pochettino has moved quickly to add competition in this area via the signing of Austrian international centre back Kevin Wimmer from FC Koln but Spurs fans would still like another bigger name with Younes Kaboul’s future uncertain, not to mention Vlad Chiriches’.
One player who has been linked with both clubs is Monaco’s outstanding Tunisian international defender Aymen Abdennour.
Gunners fans caught a close-up glimpse of the defender in action in the Champions League this past season whereby his club side Monaco took everybody by surprise and eventually dispatched of Arsenal via the away goals rule at the last sixteen stage.
Of all the players on the pitch in that shocking first leg from an Arsenal perspective, Abdennour caught the eye with his no-nonsense style that was reminiscent of a John Terry performance.
According to The Express, both Spurs and Newcastle United have already tabled bids for the Tunisian while Arsene Wenger has also been in contact. Watch this space.
George Williams
Seemingly during every transfer window, we often see bigger clubs such as Arsenal and Tottenham sign a so-called ‘project player’ – a much hyped younger player who is brought for the future or alternatively is sent out on loan to gain first team experience ahead of returning to the fold a better player.
We saw as recently as in January with the example of Dele Alli that Tottenham are a club not only interested in signing players for the here and now but also the future to boot with DeAndre Yedlin again representing a player with huge potential.
One player who seems to fit this category for both Spurs and Arsenal is Fulham’s young Wales international winger George Williams.
Although the news has subsided in recent times (Fulham will be delighted with that!), back in November last year, the Daily Star reported how both the North London clubs as well as Everton and West Ham United were monitoring Williams.
Williams played a lot at the beginning of the Cottagers’ 2014/15 campaign before returning on loan to former club MK Dons nearer the end of the season.
With great hope surrounding the Welsh youngster, you must be some player to have made your senior international debut at just 18-years-old against the Netherlands last year.
Anthony Martial
If you believe what you read in The Express, one of Tottenham’s transfer priorities this summer is a move for Monaco striker Anthony Martial who helped down Arsenal in the Champions League this past season.
With that fact alone endearing him to Spurs supporters as a worthy signing, the reports claim Mauricio Pochettino was close to agreeing an £18 million fee for Martial’s transfer with the Principality club.
With Spurs having denied these reports, this will be one to watch but there is no doubting Martial’s talents with the player boasting speed in abundance and a clinical prowess in front of goal.
Martial is still incredibly young at just 19-years-old but has experienced Champions League football and has already amassed 45 appearances in Ligue 1 for Monaco.
With Monaco having to abide by Financial Fair Play regulations, the rumours are that they will need to part with some of their prized assets this summer and Martial could be one of those.
In addition to Spurs’ interest, Arsenal are also in the hunt for his signature according to Metro who claim the player is one of Wenger’s main targets for the summer.
After all, it wouldn’t be like Arsenal to go so long without having a dabble in Ligue 1 for another French talent!
