Tottenham Ready To Scupper Arsenal’s Plans To Sign £86m La Liga Star

The summer transfer window is open and managers are working hard on their transfer targets so we’ll bring you all the latest gossip from around the globe. Today, Tottenham have joined Arsenal in the race to sign Andre Gomes…

Tottenham are ready to scupper Arsenal’s plans to sign Andre Gomes after joining their rivals in the race to sign the Barcelona midfielder this summer, according to reports via TeamTalk.

Gomes is a product of the Benfica youth system but made his name during an impressive two-year spell in Spain at Valencia which led to a move to Barcelona in 2016 with the youngster identified by the Catalans as a potential long-term replacement for Xavi.

However, the 24-year-old’s time at the Nou Camp hasn’t gone according to plan as he’s struggled to hold down a regular first team place under Ernesto Valverde and started just 6 La Liga games last season with the vast majority of his appearances coming from the bench.

Gomes admitted earlier in the year that his time at Barca has been ‘hell’ as he’s struggled to justify his £28m price-tag and has felt the pressure of trying to succeed at such an illustrious club.

The Portuguese international is quoted by TeamTalk as saying:

“Maybe it’s not the correct word but it turned into a bit of a hell, because I started to feel more pressure,”

“With pressure I feel fine, but with pressure on myself, I don’t. The feeling that I have during games is bad.”

The situation alerted Arsenal with Sky Italia journalist Gianluza Di Marzio claiming earlier this month that the Gunners were in pole position to sign Gomes after Unai Emery had identified him as a summer target.

The new Arsenal boss snapped up midfielders Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi earlier this week but with Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Franics Coquelin all leaving the club over the past few months, it seems Emery wants another option in the middle of the park and Gomes is on his radar.

However, Arsenal will now face stiff competition as TeamTalk are citing a report from TransferMarketWeb that claims Tottenham have joined their north London rivals in the race to sign Gomes.

Mauricio Pochettino has been quiet in the market so far this summer but he’s tipped to sign a new midfielder amid speculation surrounding the future of Mousa Dembele and Gomes could be viewed as a potential replacement.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Spurs transfer news

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but Gomes still has three year left on his contract and TeamTalk says his release clause is set at £86m so Arsenal or Spurs may have to dig deep if they want to sign the midfielder.