Mauricio Pochettino wasted no time putting the Chelsea squad through their paces in his first training session as manager . After getting his media duties out of the way on Monday, the 51-year-old was straight down to business on Tuesday at the club’s Cobham facility in Surrey – and it looked painful. Getty Chelsea’s players were put through their paces at Cobham on Tuesday[/caption] Pochettino has wasted no time in his getting the Blues squad into shape Getty Getty The players were put through medical tests in the gym after a session on the pitch[/caption] England stars Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Reece James all checked in, as players trained on the pitch before being put to work in a gruelling gym session. In a sight Chelsea fans will be excited over, midfielders Andrey Santos and Cesare Casadei – fresh from their loan spells at Vasco de Gama and Reading – were involved. As too was Ian Maatsen, who played 42 games for Burnley on loan last season as he helped the Cla...
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Tottenham thought transfer was done but inadvertently paid for taxi to help Arsenal hijack deal
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Arsenal are no strangers to having deals hijacked, with Mykhailo Mudryk going to Chelsea last season being a prime example.
But the Gunners have done it to their biggest rivals, too, including one of the most outrageous hijacks in the Premier League era.
Petit snubbed Spurs before enjoying a successful three-year spell with ArsenalGETTY
Club legend Arsene Wenger had been appointed as manager in 1996 and was looking to begin a new era at Highbury, with Monaco midfielder Emmanuel Petit appearing on his radar as he set to work.
in 1997, though, Petit was already in talks with rivals Tottenham and was in London talking to then-chairman Alan Sugar about signing from Monaco.
However, the Gunners got in touch to tell the midfielder he should hold off agreeing to sign for Spurs until he spoke to Wenger – the man who brought him through at Monaco – and hear his proposal.
Clearly interested in pushing to win the Premier League title and reunite with his compatriot, Petit asked Sugar if he could go back to his hotel to mull the Spurs offer over.
Agreeing to Petit’s request, the club then paid for the taxi to drive him back. However, unbeknown to them, the midfielder redirected the cab to Wenger’s house where he and vice-chairman David Dein were waiting.
It didn’t take long before a £3.5m deal was sealed and Spurs were left in the dust.
“It was the first time I met David Dein and Tottenham paid for the cab to help me sign for Arsenal,” Petit – who went on to win four trophies with Arsenal in three years – said in 2018 when asked about the transfer.
“It’s part of the legend now.
“I knew the rivalry but not how big it was. David Dein still loves that story – and [more than] 20 years later he’s still telling it!”
Arsenal fans will be glad Rice didn’t pull a Petit on themGetty
Arsenal fans will be hoping this summer’s midfield overhaul, including the arrival of Chelsea’s Kai Havertz and, imminent signing of Declan Rice, will come close to recreating Petit and Patrick Vieira’s iconic partnership.
But the Gunners could have missed out on Rice when it looked like league champions Man City might flex their transfer muscle.
Luckily for manager Mikel Arteta, Rice doesn’t appear to have pulled a Petit, with Man City withdrawing from the race after their £90million plus add-ons bid was rejected by West Ham.
talkSPORT understands talks between Rice and Arsenal have continued in recent days over how the payments are structured.
Although talkSPORT is sure Spurs fans who were around to witness the Petit debacle would have a good old giggle should the deal for Gunners’ have had their marquee summer signing hijacked!
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Mauricio Pochettino wasted no time putting the Chelsea squad through their paces in his first training session as manager . After getting his media duties out of the way on Monday, the 51-year-old was straight down to business on Tuesday at the club’s Cobham facility in Surrey – and it looked painful. Getty Chelsea’s players were put through their paces at Cobham on Tuesday[/caption] Pochettino has wasted no time in his getting the Blues squad into shape Getty Getty The players were put through medical tests in the gym after a session on the pitch[/caption] England stars Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Reece James all checked in, as players trained on the pitch before being put to work in a gruelling gym session. In a sight Chelsea fans will be excited over, midfielders Andrey Santos and Cesare Casadei – fresh from their loan spells at Vasco de Gama and Reading – were involved. As too was Ian Maatsen, who played 42 games for Burnley on loan last season as he helped the Cla...
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