Mikel Arteta stopped Arsenal from signing Spurs’ Emerson Royal from Barcelona in the summer, choosing Takehiro Tomiyasu instead.

Tottenham Hotspur's Brazilian defender Emerson Royal reacts after failing to score during the second leg of the English League Cup semi final football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in London on January 12, 2022. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazilian defender Emerson Royal reacts after failing to score during the second leg of the English League Cup semi-final football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in London on January 12, 2022. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)

The Guardian report that late in the summer transfer window, Arsenal started to think seriously about the possibility of signing Barcelona right-back Emerson Royal.

Arsenal were in advanced negotiations led by Edu, with the analytics department also approving the deal. But Mikel Arteta wasn’t convinced, so the Gunners pulled out, allowing him to join Tottenham Hotspur.

Instead, Arteta opted to bring in Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna for around £10m less (£15.5m) than Spurs paid for Emerson (£26m).

A few months later, Spurs are already looking to replace Emerson with Adama Traore, whilst most Arsenal fans would probably agree they’re very happy with Tomiyasu.

In the build-up to the Manchester City game, many supporters admitted their slim hopes of a result relied on Tomiyasu returning to the side after his Covid-19 infection. That’s the level of esteem in which he’s currently held.

Takehiro Tomiyasu Arsenal
Takehiro Tomiyasu Arsenal

It’s clear that Arteta and co. haven’t got all their transfers right since joining. In fact, there were probably more misses than hits before this summer.

But the six they’ve signed since then have really turned things around, and Tomiyasu’s transfer is just one of the recent deals that looks like money well spent.