Agent: Arsenal & Spurs Failed With Late Bids For French Midfielder

The fall-out from the January transfer window continues as we start to hear about the players that clubs missed out on. Today, Arsenal and Tottenham are said to have failed to land Etienne Capoue.

The agent of Etienne Capoue claims Arsenal and Tottenham both failed with late bids to try and sign the midfielder after his club Toulouse refused to let him go, according to the Metro.

The report claims the north London rivals have been long-term admirers of the 24-year-old’s, who’s recently broken into the French national team set-up after an impressive 18 months at the heart of Toulouse’ midfield.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger revealed at his Friday press conference yesterday that he came close to making a second signing but claimed the selling club refused to let his target leave. Wenger told Arsenal.com:

“We were close to one more signature,” Wenger said. “It did not happen because of the desire of the clubs to sell or not sell.

The Metro claim Wenger’s comments were in reference to Capoue and the players agent, Mino Raiola, has revealed that Arsenal and Tottenham were among the clubs interested in signing the powerful midfielder during the final stages of the January transfer window, but confirmed the Toulouse president refused to sell.

‘Arsenal, Tottenham and PSG were interested in Capoue,’

‘Maybe it is one for next summer. The Toulouse president didn’t need to sell during this window. The asking price was a barrier every time.’ Raiola said according to the Metro

The newspaper suggests that the reason Toulouse refused to do business for Capoue was because they had already sold fellow midfielder Moussa Sissoko to Newcastle earlier in the week and didn’t want to be left short of midfield options, so the French outfit are understood to have upped their asking price to scare off interested parties.

Read more Arsenal transfer news | Spurs transfer news

I’ve seen Capoue on several occasions this season and been hugely impressed by him. With Sandro ruled out for the season at White Hart Lane and Arsene Wenger failing to buy a proper replacement for Alex Song in the summer, it’s easy to see why the London pair were understood to be eyeing Capoue.

Unfortunately he didn’t make the move to the Premier League this window but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the rumours start up again in the run-up to the summer.

Are Arsenal and Spurs fans disappointed to miss out on Capoue? Get involved in the comments section below.