Tottenham Hotspur have moved to hijack Arsenal’s summer move for Saint-Etienne defender William Saliba, and could beat their North London rivals to the signature of the teenage sensation.

#Tottenham have just outbid #Arsenal for William #Saliba, offering €30m excluding bonuses, which goes above & beyond Sainté’s demands. #ASSE are meeting tomorrow #Tottenham to discuss this situation !

— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) July 12, 2019

The Gunners believed they had agreed a deal with the Ligue 1 club that will see Saliba spend next season on loan with them before moving to the Emirates Stadium next summer.

However, Spurs are now favourites for his signature and their fans can hardly believe it.

Chairman Daniel Levy continues to prove what he is capable of doing in the transfer window, and should Tottenham successfully pip Arsenal to the services of the teenager, it will be a huge blow on manager Unai Emery’s side.

Here is how some Spurs faithful reacted to the reports on Twitter:

Looks like a full blown Swoop in action being engineered by Spurs supermo Daniel Levy!

— Shreyas Rao (@Spurs_Shreyas) July 13, 2019

Say what you want but I love that guy. As someone who has to negotiate as part of my job, Levy is a master. Wish he’d write a book

— S (@jsethke) July 13, 2019

Master of Dark Arts.

— daGuvnor (@GuvnorDaSpurs) July 13, 2019

Now that would be funny..

— Daithi O'Conchúir (@DaithiConchuir) July 12, 2019

the scenes when we pull this off

— Tyler Wilson (@XpeRia_PRiME) July 12, 2019

You love to see it

— jack bellert (@JackBellert) July 12, 2019

If we sign Saliba I’m replacing all family photos at home with portraits of Levy.

— NorthLondonIsOurs1882 (@ours1882) July 13, 2019

Slowly replacing our belgian contingent with a french one

— Martin Morrison (@martmyte) July 12, 2019

William Saliba on the phone to his agent like…. pic.twitter.com/De5uTQLsLN

— Tottenham Funnies (@SpursFunnies) July 12, 2019

Should Saliba agree to join the Lilywhites, he will most likely return to St Etienne on loan for next season according to the French club’s initial plans, but Tottenham will gladly wait having secured a similar deal with Leed United after signing Jack Clarke.

Arsenal have been the second best team in North London of recent, and losing a summer target they thought they had sealed to Spurs will be hugely embarrassing.