Tottenham Hotspur have leapfrogged over Arsenal to agree on a deal for Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma, claims The Times.
According to journalist Gary Jacob, Spurs have agreed on a £25 million deal for the midfielder and they are hoping to wrap up this transfer by the end of this week. Once the personal terms are agreed upon, he is scheduled to have a medical on Thursday following which the transfer will be made official.
Arsenal have had a considerable interest in signing the 25-year-old midfielder since the January transfer window and many pundits think the Gunners have missed out on a bargain signing.
Yves Bissouma joined the Seagulls from Lille in 2018 and since then he has become a mainstay in Brighton’s midfield. He’s played 124 games across all competitions both in central midfield as well as in defensive midfield.
Spurs have agreed to sign Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma in a deal worth $30M, reports @garyjacob pic.twitter.com/tUDiIC6g5S
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Was Yves Bissouma a necessary signing for Spurs?
Daniel Levy has been fully backing Antonio Conte this summer and at £25 million, the Mali international is a superb signing.
Hojbjerg and Bentancur were the first-choice midfield partner for Spurs for the second half of the previous season but Bissouma’s entry will add some much-needed competition.
Winks and Skipp have fallen down the pecking order so Antonio Conte was really desperate to add a new midfielder this summer. There’s a chance that both of them might be shown the door in the coming months.
As per Whoscored, Bissouma’s speciality lies in helping out the defenders and acting as a screen for the back-four. He’s wonderful at making interceptions and is also a strong tackler.
Is Yves Bissouma a big miss for Arsenal?
Mikel Arteta would have surely loved to sign a player like Yves Bissouma and that too for a fee of just £25 million but they are currently fully focused on signing Youri Tielemans.
The Gunners are the favourites to land the Leicester City midfielder which is why they have backed off from making a move for players like Yves Bissouma or Ruben Neves.
Arteta feels his side have the most realistic chance of signing Tielemans which is the primary reason why Arsenal did not challenge Spurs. Yves Bissouma might have turned out to be a superb signing for Arsenal but Tielemans is an equally good central midfielder.
