Tottenham tried to copy what Mikel Arteta did at Arsenal and it has backfired massively

Tottenham’s nightmare start to the Premier League season continued on Saturday afternoon following a 3-2 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

The loss leaves Spurs in a state of crisis. At least they’ve scored now, but after five games, they are third from bottom, despite spending around £350million in the summer.

Two of their summer signings reeked of trying to copy what Mikel Arteta did back in 2022, when he signed Manchester City duo Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The pair were slightly on the fringes under Pep Guardiola, but instantly became key players for Arsenal and helped elevate them from Champions League hopefuls to Premier League title contenders.

Their professionalism, their winning mentality and their understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level injected something vital into Arsenal’s culture. Although both were eventually phased out, the pair were some of Arteta’s best pieces of transfer business at the club.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Tottenham clearly tried to pull off the exact same trick this summer.

Savinho was signed from Manchester City for £85million, before Omar Marmoush followed for an initial loan and £60million obligation to buy. A combined £145million on two players with Premier League pedigree, signed with the hope that they would do for Spurs what Jesus and Zinchenko did for Arsenal, and provide that immediate jump in quality.

But there’s no sign of that happening so far. Both have made little to no impact so far. Savio has shown glimpses of quality, but for the money spent you’d want him to hit the ground running and contribute to goals. Marmoush, meanwhile, has done nothing.

Tottenham still look lost and are now 18th in the Premier League table, and could drop even lower depending on the other results this weekend.

The early signs suggest that it could be another long season for Spurs fans, watching their team scramble for results at the bottom end of the table while their North London rivals look to win back-to-back Premier League titles. How unfortunate.