Eze back at boyhood club Arsenal after big-money move from Palace
Eberechi Eze completed his return to Arsenal ahead of the team's 5-0 win over Leeds United on Saturday.
The Gunners reached an agreement to sign Eze from Crystal Palace for around £68 million, beating out local rivals Tottenham Hotspur to his signature, according to The Athletic's David Ornstein.
The 27-year-old signed a long-term contract with Arsenal before he was introduced to fans at the Emirates Stadium. He wasn't part of Mikel Arteta's matchday squad to face Leeds.
"He is a powerful and exciting player who will give us a new dimension in our attacking game," Arteta said. "What stands out just as much as his talent and intelligence as a player, is the way he has worked hard throughout his career to get where he is today. "
Eze told BBC Sport in May that representing Arsenal's academy "was everything" before he was released at 13. He was subsequently released by Fulham and Millwall, and had numerous unsuccessful trials elsewhere, until Queens Park Rangers took a chance on him.
Eze broke into QPR's first team after an excellent loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers. He soon developed a reputation for his slippery movement, tricks and, most crucially, his consistency. The playmaker joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 2020 and quickly established himself as a fan favorite en route to making 169 appearances, scoring 40 goals and recording 28 assists. He scored the winner in Palace's FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City.
Now, Eze is returning to the club that he first joined aged nine.
"The better the feeling, the stronger the feeling, I think the better," manager Arteta said Friday of the attacking midfielder's Arsenal allegiance.
"It brings a different edge, a different will and emotion to what you do. I think that always brings something extra."
Eze expected to sign for Tottenham, but he called Arteta on Wednesday to see if there was any possibility of Arsenal turning their interest into an official approach, The Athletic's James McNicholas reports. Arsenal matched the financial package offered by Spurs later that day, leaving Eze with the straightforward decision to become his boyhood club's seventh senior signing of a busy summer.
The move follows news of an injury to Kai Havertz. However, Arteta said there was no relation between the German forward's knee issue and Eze's arrival.
"We are not reacting to anything," he insisted. "We've been very prepared and understanding what we could do, and we have decided this is the moment to do it."
His arrival gives Arteta another creative force who can operate in multiple positions.
Though most comfortable as a No. 10, Eze will likely slot into Arsenal's lineup as a left-sided attacker, further strengthening a positional group that already includes Gabriel Martinelli and summer signing Noni Madueke. Madueke was picked to start ahead of Martinelli against Leeds.
Arteta said before Eze's transfer was announced that it's proof the club is "showing the ambition" that's required to win major trophies.
"We want to be in front in the league, not just chasing or reacting or being behind, but in front of it, and every decision that we make in every area of the club is to achieve that," he stressed.