Tottenham had agreed everything with Crystal Palace and Eberechi Eze to sign the England international but Arsenal had other ideas.

Following the injury to James Maddison and the departure of Son Heung-min, Spurs were looking to add creativity to the team and they had identified Eze as their primary target.

With everything agreed about the transfer, they were thinking about their plans for this season with Eze in the team.

However, in the last minute, Arsenal reignited interest in the Palace star, with more intent this time due to the injury suffered by Kai Havertz.

In a moment of hours, the Gunners had sealed the deal to sign the player and now only formalities are left to complete the transfer.

An iconic moment in the transfer window this summer as Spurs have been stunned and beaten by their Premier League rivals.

Tottenham had an idea something was off about Eze deal

According to TBR Football, Tottenham had an idea that there was something wrong with the Eze deal due to the delay in completing the move.

There is no doubt that they are disappointed to lose out on a player of Eze’s quality, but they had a feeling that something like this could happen.

TBR Football’s chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has shared his thoughts on this matter and revealed the feeling inside the Tottenham camp.

He said: “I don’t think it necessarily hit the players or the coaches hard, but on Monday and Tuesday, the club really thought it was done with Spurs.”

“On Tuesday, Palace came back with certain criteria – not outlandish, but a bit unusual – and that made Spurs think: ‘Why are you asking for this, what’s going on here?’ They had a feeling something wasn’t quite right.

“I think annoyance is the wrong word – a frustration. But clearly, Eze is Palace’s player to do as they see fit. At the end of the day, it’s not really a frustration with Palace because they were just looking for the best deal.

“Tottenham were willing to do the £68 million deal anyway, so from Palace’s point of view, did they really care which one of these two he joined? I don’t think so. Neither of them are particular rivals. Yes, Spurs are nearer to Palace, but in terms of everything else, they’re not really a rival. Palace were going to get the same fee anyway.

“I don’t think there’s real annoyance there, but clearly from Spurs’ part there is frustration. But speaking to them today, they’re moving on straight away. There’s that pragmatic approach – this is football. They’ve taken advantage of similar situations themselves in the past, so I don’t think they’re massively bitter about it.”

Spurs face a tricky situation now

Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

It comes as a huge blow to Spurs who have not only failed in signing Eze this summer but also Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest after activating his release clause.

Spurs have Manchester City winger Savinho in their mind as their next target but even a deal for him would not be easy since Pep Guardiola’s team are ready to block the transfer.

All eyes will be on Spurs in the next few days to see what they have in mind after losing the race to sign Eze.