Twice in the summer 2025 transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur were stymied by Arsenal. They first lost out on a very easy transfer target to the Gunners in former Brentford defensive midfielder Christian Norgaard, and then they had their hearts broken again near the end of the window when local London hero Eberechi Eze chose his childhood club in red over Spurs at the very last second.
In the end, Tottenham won't feel too bad about missing out on these two, as their defensive midfield signing, Joao Palhinha, and attacking midfield addition, Xavi Simons, have proven to be superior players for Spurs. Meanwhile, Arsenal are leading the Premier League, so they clearly have to be happy with how their summer business went so far.
Both North London rivals are set to clash in the transfer market again this January, as there are two high profile left winger targets linked to the clubs. And both Tottenham and Arsenal have left winger as their biggest need left to address.
Arsenal are done spending big this season
Antoine Semenyo is going to be the most coveted player on the January market in 2026, as he has been one of the Premier League Player of the Season candidates for Bournemouth and has a 65 million pound release clause ripe for the taking.
Although Arsenal have been strongly linked to Semenyo, a new report has provided a twist to the story. According to Football.London beat writer Ryan Taylor, Arsenal are now unlikely to make a play for the young superstar left winger in January, as they are expected to be relatively inactive in the winter and avoid high profile signings like Antoine Semenyo after already spending a bunch this past summer on Eberechi Eze, Christian Norgaard, Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie, Noni Madueke Viktor Gyokeres, and Martin Zubimendi.
That opens up a huge opportunity for Tottenham Hotspur, because they now have one less Big Six club to really worry about in the Semenyo chase. Arsenal could still yet try to sign the Ghanaian star, but they may not be as big of a threat as, say, Liverpool, who look like the early leaders.
Tottenham have to take full advantage here if it is indeed true that Arsenal are not after Semenyo. That is a big competitor off the table for Spurs. And even in Taylor's report, he notes that Arsenal could go for that big name left winger in the summer, so if Spurs don't go for him this winter and beat out the others, Arsenal could always come back in.