Former Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit has revealed he was in talks with Tottenham before he decided to join the Gunners.

Indeed the World Cup winner was talking to the north London rivals so close together that Spurs actually paid for his taxi on his way to sign for Arsenal.

He told the Daily Mail: “Before I signed for Arsenal, I had been in discussions with Spurs. I held a meeting at Tottenham, but I decided not to tell them my answer because I knew I was seeing Arsenal afterwards.

“At the time, I did not know the rivalry between Spurs and the Gunners, and I realised afterwards that I had got in a taxi which had been paid for by Spurs to sign for Arsenal.

“It is like Marseille paying for a cab for a player then to sign for Paris Saint-Germain, but it wasn’t my intention to hurt anybody.”

The former France international said a lack of motivation he perceived at White Hart Lane was his reason for picking Arsenal.

He joined from Monaco for £2.5m.