{"id":37422,"date":"2026-01-07T03:13:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/arsenal-enter-rivalry-with-tottenham-for-keith-smit-as-huge-price-tag-emerges\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T03:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T08:13:30","slug":"arsenal-enter-rivalry-with-tottenham-for-keith-smit-as-huge-price-tag-emerges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/arsenal-enter-rivalry-with-tottenham-for-keith-smit-as-huge-price-tag-emerges\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal enter rivalry with Tottenham for Keith Smit as huge price tag emerges"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/arsenal-enter-rivalry-with-tottenham-for-keith-smit-as-huge-price-tag-emerges\/#Despite_Zvimendis_form_the_Gunners_are_considering_signing_the_midfielder\" >Despite Zvimendi&#8217;s form, the Gunners are considering signing the midfielder<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/arsenal-enter-rivalry-with-tottenham-for-keith-smit-as-huge-price-tag-emerges\/#%E2%80%98Absolutely_fantastic_Smit_is_destined_for_the_Premier_League\" >&#8216;Absolutely fantastic&#8217; Smit is destined for the Premier League<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Arsenal are currently in competition with Tottenham Hotspur for the &#8216;really good&#8217; midfielder, but they may need to make a huge bid to seal the deal this month.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"gunners-looking-to-sign-midfielder-despite-zubimendi-39-s-fine-form\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Despite_Zvimendis_form_the_Gunners_are_considering_signing_the_midfielder\"><\/span>\n                        <strong>Despite Zvimendi&#8217;s form, the Gunners are considering signing the midfielder<\/strong><br \/>\n               <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Martin Zvimendi has adapted incredibly well to life in the Premier League since arriving in the summer, with Declan Rice recently praising his midfield partner:<em> &#8220;He&#8217;s not the greatest player or the strongest player, but his brain and how he works allows the team to function very well.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was unbelievable. He played so many minutes for us and the way he approached the ball, obviously he&#8217;s Spain&#8217;s No. 6 at the moment and rightly so. So you can see the quality, the composure, the composure, the mindset that he brings.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rice remains an important player for Mikel Arteta, and the Englishman&#8217;s brace in his last game against AFC Bournemouth could prove valuable in the Premier League title race, with Chelsea&#8217;s late equalizer leaving the North Londoners six points clear of Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p>    Arteta is blessed with top-level options in midfield, but TEAMtalk has revealed that Arsenal have their sights set on a new midfielder, joining the race to sign AZ Alkmaar star Keith Smit.<\/p>\n<p>A number of Premier League clubs are in the race to sign the central midfielder, including Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool, but one scout said: <em>&#8220;He is a very smart footballer and a lot of clubs actually thought they had discovered a player that others might not have noticed, but in recent months it has become clear that everyone has their eyes on him.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>However, if the Gunners want to seal a deal this month, they may have to make a huge bid as it is thought Smit&#8217;s current employers could hold out for up to \u00a365m.<\/p>\n<p><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"quot-truly-fantastic-quot-smit-is-destined-for-the-premier-league\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98Absolutely_fantastic_Smit_is_destined_for_the_Premier_League\"><\/span>\n                        <strong>&#8216;Absolutely fantastic&#8217; Smit is destined for the Premier League<\/strong><br \/>\n               <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Scout Jacek Kulig has admired the 19-year-old for quite some time and praised the X for his performances at AZ Alkmaar during the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the young Dutchman, who is represented by the same agent as Julian Timber, has continued to impress at Alkmaar, establishing himself as a key player this season with two goals and five assists in 27 games across all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>The starlet is also a skilled dribbler who carries the ball forward, averaging 2.38 progressive carries per 90 over the past year, placing him in the 94th percentile compared to other midfielders.<\/p>\n<p>The next logical step would be for Smit to move to one of Europe&#8217;s top leagues, but signing a new midfielder shouldn&#8217;t be a priority for Arsenal given the partnership Rice and Zvimendi have built.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal are currently in competition with Tottenham Hotspur for the &#8216;really good&#8217; midfielder, but they may need to make a huge bid to seal the deal this month. Despite Zvimendi&#8217;s form, the Gunners are considering signing the midfielder Martin Zvimendi has adapted incredibly well to life in the Premier League since arriving in the summer, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[44,1208,5295,40,3078,8099,1670,2372,8100,1671,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-37422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-emerges","10":"tag-enter","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-huge","13":"tag-keith","14":"tag-price","15":"tag-rivalry","16":"tag-smit","17":"tag-tag","18":"tag-tottenham"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}