Arsenal icon Emmanuel Petit once had Tottenham convinced he would sign for them – before he hopped into a taxi they paid for and went to join their bitter rivals instead.
Petit’s former club host Spurs in their second North London Derby clash of the season this Wednesday. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are currently in a poor run of form, having suffered consecutive home defeats in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. A third defeat could have catastrophic implications for their Premier League title aspirations.
Yet the fixture has traditionally been as unpredictable as it has been fiery, with form often taking a backseat due to the intense rivalry between the two sides. A lot of that can be traced back to when Arsenal moved from south east London into Tottenham territory over a century ago, while some of it can be attributed to the actions of past players.
Sol Campbell’s shocking transfer from White Hart Lane to Highbury as a free agent is one such example – but Petit’s rejection of the Lilywhites on the same day he decided to meet with their rivals is also astonishing. “Tottenham put the contract on the table for me, I needed a couple of days to think about it but they didn’t expect what happened after that,” Petit told Mirror Football back in 2018.
The Frenchman travelled to London in 1997 to talk to Spurs chairman Sir Alan Sugar about a transfer from Monaco. Arsenal heard about the meeting and quickly sent word to the midfielder not to agree to anything until he had heard Arsene Wenger’s pitch about the new era he was building at Highbury.
Petit, who Wenger gave his chance at Monaco, asked Sugar for time to make his decision back at his hotel, with Tottenham even paying his cab fare home. But he instead diverted the taxi to Wenger’s house, where Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein also awaited him.

Keen to fight for titles rather than relegation battles, the future World Cup winner completed a £3.5million move to the Gunners. Petit recalled on talkSPORT: “I had meetings on the same day with Tottenham and Arsenal and had a meeting with Tottenham in the morning, but when I came to England I didn’t know about the rivalry between the two clubs.
“When I left the Spurs stadium, they booked me a cab and the cab driver asked me for directions, so I gave him the Arsenal address and I didn’t realise that the cab was pre-paid by Spurs, so they knew where I was going!
“I’d told Spurs that I needed time to think about it but knew that I had to see Arsenal, as well as other clubs in Italy and Spain. I told everyone that I’d make my mind up and when I knew the answer I would give it, but after a couple of days I signed for Arsenal and it went into newspapers and all of a sudden the story came. I realised the pressure of the rivalry then.”

(Image: Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)
Reflecting in 2018, Petit added: “It’s part of the legend now. David Dein still loves that story – and [more than] 20 years later he’s still telling it!”
The pony-tailed star followed Patrick Vieira’s arrival at London Colney the season before. The pair formed a formidable central midfield partnership that sealed a league and cup double. That sparked Wenger’s revolution while also adding salt to the wounds of the aggrieved Spurs faithful.
Petit spent three seasons at Arsenal before moving to Barcelona. He returned to London shortly after to sign for another London rival – Chelsea.
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