EMERSON TRUTH
Emerson Royal has denied claims that he turned down a move to Arsenal in favour of a switch to their rivals Tottenham.
Royal did end up joining Spurs although the Gunners were also interested in him this summer, but he revealed that his ex-club Barcelona made the decision not him.
The Brazilian explained that he had been speaking to both clubs and was still deciding who he should join when Barca told him they had already made a deal with Spurs.
Speaking to ESPN Brasil, Royal said: “I actually had a conversation with Edu. I did talk to Edu in the same week.
“And we talked, he showed me the desire of the club and such. And, of course, I needed Barcelona, I couldn’t settle anything with anyone, Barcelona had to deal club to club.
“And that’s where Barcelona went and found a deal with Tottenham. I also got to talk to Tottenham, at first I didn’t have any verbal agreement with anyone.
“That’s when Barcelona told me that they had made an agreement with Tottenham.
“I listened to the proposal, for me it was a good proposal, not only financial, for me that’s what counts least.
“But it had a very good career project for me. So this is why I chose to come to Tottenham.”