Tottenham asked Jan Vertonghen for advice on their January transfer business

By Sam Preston

Tottenham consulted Jan Vertonghen over their bid for Leandro Trossard in January before he joined Arsenal.

That is according to the Times, who have reported on the north London rivals’ battle to sign the Belgium international.

Spurs made a £12 million bid to Brighton for the forward, but that fell well short of their valuation despite his contract situation.

They asked Vertonghen about his character, having played alongside him for Belgium, amid a falling out with Seagulls boss Roberto de Zerbi.

Tottenham consulted Jan Vertonghen on signing Leandro Trossard

Arsenal ended up signing him for a fee which could rise to £27 million, which also indicates how wide of the mark Spurs’ bid was.

They reacted quickly to missing out on Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix, having seen both men move to Chelsea, who lost to Spurs last weekend.

Arsenal coach Albert Stuivenberg vouched for Trossard on the other side of north London, and he is now playing a key part in their title bid.

David Seaman has told his Seaman Says podcast that Arsenal were a lot better with Leandro Trossard up front in their win over Leicester City, with the Belgian getting more involved in the play than Eddie Nketiah has been.

“What a finish. It was a brilliant finish. And that’s another talking point, the fact they played Trossard up front instead of Nketiah,” he said.

“I felt it worked a lot better because Trossard drops off and becomes more involved than what Eddie’s been doing. Eddie’s goalscoring is what it is. It’s brilliant. But I just feel Trossard helped it a little bit more by dropping into midfield.”