Leandro Trossard's agent lifts lid on how Tottenham lost out to rivals Arsenal

The 28-year-old linked up with the Gunners from Brighton earlier in the week in a deal rising to £27million.

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But it was actually Spurs that were first in for the ex-Genk star after having a £12m bid knocked back by the Seagulls.

In swooped Arsenal, after they missed out on Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea, to close the transfer within a day of negotiations.

Antonio Conte had eyed up the versatile forward as an option to provide competition with Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son.

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But Trossard's representative has claimed that Spurs dithered in their discussions, allowing their north London rivals to pip them to his signature.

Quoted by the Mirror, Josy Comhair said: "Spurs were in contact with us for the last two weeks.

"But it was 'we want him, but wait this, wait that'.

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"Wednesday we got in touch with Arsenal - 24 hours later they had an agreement."

In a separate interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, Comhair remarked: "I called [Arsenal sporting director] Edu Gaspar on Wednesday.

"I explained the situation. Before the World Cup we agreed that Leandro wouldn't sign a new deal with Brighton.

"So they had to sell him now. Marseille were interested, I also talked to Tottenham. But they wanted to wait."

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lauded Trossard in his pre-match conference ahead of Sunday's clash against Manchester United, where the player could make his debut.

Speaking of Trossard, Arteta stated: "We are really happy to have him. He's a player we have followed for a while now.

"The opportunity came - we had the necessity to have a player in the frontline who is versatile enough to play in different positions.

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"He knows the league, he has enough experience here and I think he can have an immediate impact in the team.

"We have to think short-term, but medium and long-term as well. He gives us all of that. He's a very intelligent player.

"When you look at his career and what he's done in the last few years, he's a player that fits our way of playing."

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