Arsenal have hijacked Tottenham’s transfer for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze, agreeing a deal in the region of his £68million release clause. The England international, who had been expected to join Spurs, is now set to undergo a medical at London Colney on Friday.
Eze has remained the model professional throughout the summer, playing for Palace in both competitive matches and expressing his desire to feature in Thursday’s Conference League play-off against Fredrikstad. His commitment contrasts with other Premier League stars who have downed tools during transfer sagas.
The 27-year-old is a boyhood Arsenal fan and was released by the club at age 13, which he described as leaving him “crying for a week”. He has since spoken of his love for the Gunners, citing Thierry Henry as his idol. His preference was always to join Arsenal, but the club initially cooled interest after extending Ethan Nwaneri’s contract.
Arsenal revived the move after Kai Havertz’s injury left them short offensively. A prior agreement on August 10 and strong relations between Palace co-owner Steve Parish and Arsenal executive Tim Lewis facilitated the deal. Eze, capped 12 times for England, has scored 40 goals in 169 Palace appearances and would become Arsenal’s seventh signing under sporting director Andrea Berta.
