Former Tottenham Hotspur star Graham Roberts insists that the club opted against making a move to sign defender Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna before he joined Arsenal.
The club were heavily linked with a potential move to sign the defender, who can operate as both a right-back and a centre-back.
Reports even claimed that Spurs were confident a deal would be struck for the 6 ft 2 Japan international, although they ultimately signed Emerson Royal from Barcelona instead.
Will Takehiro Tomiyasu be a success at Arsenal?
Yes
No
Tomiyasu moved to the Gunners for a fee of £15.5m, while the club subsequently allowed Hector Bellerin to go on loan to Real Betis.
He made his debut in the club’s 1-0 win over Norwich City, playing 62 minutes in the clash, and Roberts insists that Spurs decided against pushing through a swoop for the defender.
Indeed, Japhet Tanganga made an impressive debut against Manchester City amid reports of interest in Tomiyasu and Roberts thinks that the club made a good decision not to buy the defender.
Tanganga has been excellent at the start of the campaign prior to the game against Crystal Palace, where he was ultimately sent off for two yellow cards during Spurs’ 3-0 defeat.
Speaking to This Is Futbol, Roberts said: “I think we did pass on him. At the time, Tanganga wasn’t even in the plans, I would have thought, there were rumours he was going to Turkey and he’s come in, and the boy’s done really well.
“They’ve thought, ‘well, why are we wasting money on Tomiyasu when we’ve got somebody just as good?’ You only spend money if he’s better than what you’ve got and I wouldn’t say he’s better than Tanganga, so I think it was a good move by the football club.”