James Wilson was linked with Arsenal ahead of transfer deadline day, but here’s why the young Hearts striker ended up joining Tottenham Hotspur instead.
Ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline, Fabrizio Romano and Sami Mokbel of the BBC reported that Arsenal had made contact with Hearts over a loan move for 18-year-old striker James Wilson. Yet by the end of the window, Wilson had officially signed for Tottenham Hotspur instead.
In some ways, the deal to sign for Spurs was a similar one. Wilson has only moved to his new club on an initial loan, just as Arsenal were offering.
But the key difference is that Spurs have included an option to make the move permanent in the summer. Arsenal weren’t offering such an option, effectively viewing their initial loan offer as a trial for Wilson to prove himself ahead of a potential summer bid.
So perhaps part of the reason Spurs ended up securing the signing was because that purchase clause made the deal more appealing to Wilson and Hearts, but there’s also no evidence Arsenal ever followed up on their initial interest.
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes told the media on Monday afternoon that they hadn’t heard anything back from Arsenal after the Gunners’ initial contact on Sunday, saying: “There was a conversation with Arsenal [on Sunday], they called and spoke to Graeme [Jones, sporting director].
“But there’s been nothing since from Arsenal…those conversations with Arsenal were yesterday, we’ve heard nothing back from Arsenal today.”
Arsenal were clearly on the lookout for a youth forward, making contact with Hearts for Wilson and St. Mirren for Evan Mooney over the weekend. But after reaching an agreement to sign Mooney, there wasn’t quite as much need to bring in Wilson as well.
The Gunners also remain in the hunt for Igor Tyjon of Blackburn Rovers. Though they’ve now had many bids knocked back by the player’s club, he’ll be out of contract this summer.
With Mooney joining in the short term and the potential to add Tyjon in the summer, signing Wilson as well might have been overkill. That likely explains why Arsenal went cold after their initial talks, and why Spurs were ultimately able to snap the player up.