Emerson Royal was reportedly assured he would be a key player at Tottenham before agreeing to join the club.
The 22-year-old Brazil defender was a pre-deadline signing from Barcelona for £25.8m and signed a five-year contract.
And according to Spanish newspaper Marca, Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo helped get the deal over the line by telling the player he would have a major role.
Spurs essentially proved how much they wanted him by offloading Serge Aurier, who left the club by mutual consent after it was agreed that his contract be terminated a year before it was due to expire.
The Ivory Coast right-back played 110 times for Spurs after a £23m move from French giants Paris St-Germain in 2017, but he failed to convince and would have been fourth-choice right-back had he not moved on.
Emerson will therefore now compete for the right-back spot with Japhet Tanganga and Matt Doherty.
Emerson has spent the past two seasons with Real Betis, scoring five goals in 79 games, before Barcelona took up an option to buy him back in June in a deal reported to be worth just under £8m.
That enabled Barca to make a sizeable profit on Emerson, who made his international duty in 2019 and has made four appearances for his country so far.
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