In the history of transfer, there are many bizarre and dramatic stories. And, the Arsenal “robbing” Eberechi Eze seemed to have belonged to Tottenham not as painful as the Emmanuel Petit. 28 years ago, Spurs had to pay a taxi to … Petit joined the Gunners!
28 years ago, the robber was Tottenham, the bandit was Arsenal and Petit as a spoil. Now, the robbery is still Spurs, the bandit is still the Gunners, and the spoils are Eze. And, perhaps almost 30 years ago or now, the rooster fans also realized the reality, The Gunners leaders have set out a “speed victory speed” plan that made Petit and Eze instead of the decision at the last minute.
In 1997, both Tottenham and Arsenal pursued midfielder Monaco. Petit was invited to Tottenham to negotiate. When leaving White Hart Lane, Spurs took the initiative to pay a taxi for Petit. But just on a taxi, Petit immediately gave the driver of Arsene Wenger's home address. And Arsenal did not miss the chance to hold hands on the No. 1 goal of the neighboring team of London.
This is Arsenal's brilliant success period. Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt were added to the squad that summer. While Wenger was appointed coach in 1996 and completely changed the face and class of the London Gunners.
So when asked the French player Petit, at that time playing for Monaco, wanting to fight to relegation or the Premier League championship, the answer was obviously clear.
What happened?
Petit in North London, talked to the President of Spurs then Alan Sugar about joining the capital team. Arsenal heard the news about this meeting and asked Petit not to sign any contract until at least heard Wenger's presentation about the new era that was about to open in The Gunners.
It seems reasonable to consider Wenger that he took him to Monaco, so Petit asked Tottenham's owners to give him time to think about that offer. Spurs did not hesitate to pay the taxi for Petit to return to the hotel being stayed. But instead of returning to the hotel, Petit gave the Wenger's address to the taxi driver and told him to take him there, where he met Vice Chairman David Dein and a contract worth £ 3.5 million was signed.
“I had a meeting with Tottenham and Arsenal on the same day,” Petit recalled on the TalkSport Drive, and emphasized that he was not known in the division in the two clubs in North London.
I met Tottenham in the morning, but when I came to England, I didn't know about the competition and division between the two clubs. When I left Tottenham, they gave me a taxi and the driver asked me, so I gave him Arsenal's address and I didn't know that the taxi was prepaid by Spurs, so they knew where I would go!
I told Spurs that I needed time to think but I knew I had to see Arsenal as well as other clubs in Italy and Spain. I told everyone that I will decide. And, when I signed a contract with Arsenal, that information was posted by the media and suddenly appeared this story (the Tottenham case paid the taxi for Petit to the Wenger's house to sign a contract with Arsenal – PV). At that time, I realized the pressure of competition, ”Petit emphasized.
Now, the story has become an anecdote, part of the magic transfer, the blatant “robbery” of Arsenal with Tottenham's top goal. “David Dein still loves that story, and more than 20 years later, he still tells it!”, Petit shared in 2018.
The Petit transfer marked the beginning of the revolution of Wenger, with Gilles Grimandi and Nicolas Anelka also came to Highbury, Arsenal's home field at that time.
A personality midfielder
At the end of his first season in Highbury, Petit won the Premier League and the FA Cup. He played extremely well with his compatriot Patrick Vieira to create a midfield pair that made the Premier League jealous. After moving from the defense position in France to the central midfielder position in the UK, Petit's ability to read the match to break the attacks is unmatched, while his passes have pierced the opponent's defense.
That summer, Petit won the 1998 World Cup, created Zinedine Zidane to score the first goal in the French final against Brazil from the corner kick and then scored the late goal to set a 3-0 victory.
Petit is a very personality player. On the pitch and in the dressing room. However, another anecdote about Petit's ponytail is also very noticeable. Ray Parlour, Petit's teammate at Arsenal once shared that the French player never greeted anyone in the team.
“Good morning with everyone and everyone will greet you again. It's very normal. But Manu doesn't. You have greeted, he still goes straight. Manu has done it to all the players, from captain Tony Adams to goalkeeper David Seaman and that is unacceptable.
Whatever the problem, you have to greet someone in the morning, right? It is impolite if you just pass by others. Greetings are just polite and show respect for others. So, one morning, we blocked and forced Manu to enter the wall, we said in unison: 'Must greet the morning with everyone, Manu. If not, we will cut your ponytail! '. We even brought out the scare. After that, Manu greeted us very warmly, ”Parlour shared.
Old story re -prepared
Poor Spurs. It seems that they are “blatant” again on the transfer market again. In addition to Petit, Chelsea did the same thing with Willian and now the Gunners have made a move to defeat Spurs to get Eze's signature from Crystal Palace.
Spurs have nearly reached an agreement to sign a contract with the British star for £ 60 million. And then Arsenal appeared at the last minute to show the determination to bring this player to the Emirates Stadium. With Eze, this is a dream step (back to the Arsenal childhood team). As for coach Thomas Frank and Tottenham, this is the step back to the starting line.
