With the midfielder Joao Palhinha of Bayern Munich joined Tottenham on borrowed, let's see why coach Thomas Frank wants to bring the 30 -year -old star back to the Premier League.
The first North London derby was held abroad in England when Arsenal confronted Tottenham in Hong Kong on August 31, with a 1-0 victory in favor of Spurs.
Although it was just a friendly match, the match was not only special because it was Thomas Frank's first victory in a North London derby as coach Spurs, but also because he encountered a former student just a few weeks earlier.
Christian Norgaard has played 68 minutes for the new Arsenal club, after being an indispensable factor in Frank's Brentford squad over the years. Only Bryan Mbeumo (11,218 minutes) played more than Norgaard (10,171 minutes) under Frank in the Premier League.
No one regained the ball as much as Norgaard last season in Brentford (193 times), and only center -back Nathan Collins (63%) had a higher rate of disputes over the ball than Norgaard (61.9%) among those who had at least 14 disputes.
Therefore, it was surprising that Tottenham did not try to recruit Frank's compatriots, although it could be attractive from Arsenal. Anyway, with Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr, Yves Bissouma, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, Frank inherited a talented midfield.
However, none of them really fits the role that Norgaard has taken on the Brentford system, and that may be the reason Joao Palhinha was taken to Tottenham Hotspur.
