Did Daniel Levy just make a mistake letting Arsenal steal Thomas Frank’s prime target to the Emirates? – Opinion

The North London rivalry is the one that has always gone beyond the pitch, and there is a transfer tussle almost every window where both the clubs are looking to get one up going into the season, and it was the case as well when it came to Christian Norgaard.

With the Gunners closing in on a £9 million deal to bring the Brentford skipper to the Emirates Stadium, it does look like the Lilywhites have now missed out on what could have been the most natural tactical transplant that Tottenham could have done in Thomas Frank’s structural rebuild of Spurs, but it is too late now, and this one may end up entering the list of those that are among front-office regrets for Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy.

Christian Norgaard – A £9m masterclass or a missed opportunity?

The Christian Norgaard story is an interesting one, especially when you start it out with the price tag, given Tottenham were initially quoted £45 million during early negotiations for his signature. I mean the valuation would have been inflated given how the Bees were aware that Norgaard would go on to become a player of precision and importance under Thomas Frank at Tottenham as well.

But then when you fast forward a few weeks, Arsenal swooped in and secured a transfer for a monetary ransom of less than a quarter of the aforementioned figure.

And as we see the Gunners fan celebrating what they are calling an Andrea Berta masterclass, Tottenham supporters have been left with their hands on their heads questioning why the 63-year-old business chairman didn’t pounce at the reduced price, especially given how the Lilywhites have Frank at N17 and Norgaard has already been at the heart of his project at Gtech Community Stadium,

And it is not that Tottenham didn’t hold interest. Yes, Tottenham had interest. Yes, the price came down. But then when it came to putting money where their mouth is, the Gunners ended up acting decisively to secure his signing.

Why Norgaard was perfect for Thomas Frank at Tottenham

See, the thing is, if there was ever a plug-and-play signing that would have helped replicate the whole structural system that Thomas Frank is expected to implement at Tottenham, then it was Norgaard.

He is someone who has been the defensive lynchpin for the Lilywhites new head coach’s 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 systems during their shared time at Brentford, given how he shields the backline with intelligent positioning complemented by aggressive tackling and elite awareness of vertical passing channels.

And then he doesn’t need an onboarding manual given how he is already familiar with what Thomas Agra demands from his midfield. So having him in the roster at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would have immediately raised the tactical floor of the midfield at N17.

And then he would bring that much-needed leadership in the dressing room, given that Tottenham are also in talks with a possible Heung-Min Son departure. Frank would have replaced the South Korean’s leadership presence with his former foe, especially given that Champions League football returns at Tottenham.

So I think this signing would have ended up meaning more to the Lilywhites than others, given it was a system stabiliser in a sense – someone who is a short-term solution with long-term system resonance.

So Why Tottenham missed the trick with Norgaard

I would think that there would be a few reasons why Daniel Levy ended up being hesitant to secure his signatures. I would start with the misleading price tag; it started at forty-five and dropped, and then Tottenham should have sensed the urgency that it didn’t, especially given the growing interest from rivals.

Andy, then I think Levy ended up underestimating Arsenal, thinking that the 31-year-old’s loyalty to Thomas Frank would have ended up outweighing any lure to move to N5, but it ended up being a miscalculation.

And then there is this failure to close that Daniel Levy has had when it comes to midfielders. How many midfielders have Tottenham been linked with in the past year, but did anything materialise? And to be honest, among the likes of João Palhinha and Richard Rios, Norgaard was the safest midfield bet available.

Norgaard’s preference was clear when push came to shove

According to the report by TBR Football, Norgaard wasn’t just a tactical fit for Tottenham, but he was Thomas Frank’s ideal pick. But then when push came to shove, he was drawn to Arsenal, pushing his agents to engineer a move to the Emirates once their interest solidified.

The narrative here is not only about the fact that theGunners got the better of Tottenham, but it’s also about the fact that Norgaard, despite his deep connections with Frank, chose Arsenal over Tottenham. And that speaks volumes about where both clubs stand right now.

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Author Opinion: Norgaard is a costly misstep by Levy

The Lilywhites project under Thomas Frank has promising prospects, but then letting a tailor-made leader like Norgaard go straight into Arsenal’s midfield could come back to haunt Tottenham, both tactically and symbolically.

In a summer of rebuilding, Tottenham just missed out on a building block and, worse, handed it to their most bitter rivals for a discounted price.

Yes, I do think that Daniel Levy blew it. And Tottenham might find themselves another defensive midfielder, but they won’t find another Norgaard-level fit this summer.