Eberechi Eze has never been shy admitting he was close to becoming a Spurs player this summer before Arsenal called at the eleventh hour. Andrea Berta’s recruitment policy is to talk to various targets on his shortlist and gain as much information as possible. Our Director of Football quickly learnt that returning to the club was the midfielder’s preference.
The twenty seven year old told his agent a return to where he was part of our academy was his first choice, but equally he was not going to wait and put his career on hold. If Spurs were willing to finalise a deal and the Gunners were not, he was not against moving to our next door neighbours. Reports vary if Mr Berta always intended to ring or if it was encouraged by another Kai Havertz injury. In the Tottenham camp they believed they were dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, out of respect letting Crystal Palace get their European tie out of the way. They were half right. In the days that followed, Eze did move to North London, the red side.
The montage with Ian Wright that made the news official, the big smile when the man himself walked out at the Emirates to greet Gooners and everything he has said since is of a man not even trying to hide the reality, that when Spurs knock on the door you might eventually open it, but when the Arsenal knock it sounds different.
Written In The Stars
No supporter wants a player to publicly admit that their biggest rival is superior, meaning one way or the other there would be subplots in Eze’s first NLD. One way or the other it was written in the stars that someone who was so close to wearing a white shirt on Sunday would have some sort of impact. Some might be surprised that the impact was a hat trick, especially given that we have not quite seen the version of Eze we saw at Selhurst Park.
Yet the man himself had been saying this very week that even when rejected by several teams, not only did he know he would make it to the highest level, but he knew more is coming. He chooses to keep what that future looks like to himself.
That is called having faith, clearly God has influenced Eze throughout his career. That is why he is so open about negotiations in August. He is not trying to disrespect or belittle Spurs, he has simply been brought up to tell the truth.
Where other boyhood fans would be desperate to re sign for the club they grew up supporting, Eze stayed relaxed and was not going to wait around because his ethos is everything happens for a reason. If he was meant to come home then he would.
Humble Confidence
He is confident enough to know he belongs on this stage, but humble enough to keep that to himself.
Mr Wright asked Eze a few months ago, on the Arsenal Youtube channel:
‘Do you want to create
Do you want to excite
Do you want to raise levels
Raise hairs
Raise the roof
Do you want to write a legacy
Do you want to realise those dreams
Do you want the Arsenal’
Eze’s answer
‘Obviously’
You see, he could have joined Spurs where greats become heroes. Yet at Arsenal, at Arsenal, heroes become legends.
Dan Smith
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It’s like it was written in the stars for Eze to score today.
I felt inside that this has to be a match that he scores at least a goal and he delivered brilliantly.
There was something poetic about his derby heroics, it was almost like it was meant to be
So you mean arsenal didn’t score from a set piece today ???
Good job eze you made the right call . Now let’s go get those trophies.
Brings a tear to the eye! The hero’s journey of Eze from academy almost-ran to a history-writing MOTM performance at 27. Epic stuff.
This electric performance for Arsenal from the former Crystal Palace Man, reminds me of a certain Alex Sanchez’s in his peak years.
In Sanchez’s peak years, Arsenal players would just give him the ball, I saw similarities in both Sanchez’s and Eze, their relentless drive, direct dribbling, their knack for impact fullness, match winning contribution, the only difference at this stage, Sanchez’s did it week in week out.
But at 27 , the former Crystal Palace Man is in his prime, his best years could be well ahead of him
Thanks for the comparison of Eze perfomance with Sanchez ….. he did really great!! It Was his day!!
Only if we could replace him (Sanchez) some day ……
Hope this superb Eze show will not be disrupted by the imminent return of Odegaard who as captain may take the place of Eze. For stars to be legends that spectacular show needs to be seen week in week out. This time we’ve seen the best of Eze in goal scoring next time in making a hattricks of assists.
Eze has been struggling to unlock the defenses of low-block teams with through passes
But I bet he can score a lot of goals this season with his excellent shooting techniques, if he keeps playing with a false-nine who can drag CBs and make enough spaces for Eze
Merino did this in the NLD by swapping positions with Eze when we had the ball
I think Eze won’t have that many chances to shoot if Gyokeres plays in front of him, because Gyokeres can’t play in Odegaard’s position
@Gai, Gyokeres brings different skill set against other opposition. ie Gyokeres may be better against fast and physical opposition. Imo, he could have been better suited to the Sunderland game that we drew.
It’s good Arteta has players to switch his tactics when needed. I have been impressed with how Arteta has improved Merino.
My worry is if Eze continues to impress Odegard would have to step up his game to bench him.
And same with White, Timber is playing so well.
Sylva Olabanji,
You’re last two lines. What have you got to be worried about. Surely that just benefits the team as a whole, having competition for places. That will just mean that they push each other to higher levels hopefully.
Nothing to worry about there my friend. 👍
I hope Gyokeres will find his shooting boots as Eze did
But Merino and Eze combo shouldn’t be disbanded just to accommodate Gyokeres and Odegaard in the starting line-up, because the setup has worked very well in the NLD
Gyokeres and Odegaard must work harder to regain their positions
I know it is early days, but I can feel the taste. The taste of premier league champions 2026.
For the first time since the 03/04 winning squad, I see a complete set of players capable of winning anything and everything. We put 4 past spurs with list of injuries and a false 9, Yes Eze did good today but just imagine an inform Ødegaard, inform Jesus( I still believe he has something to offer), inform Kai( his new physic is scary, we saw a glimps before he got injured).
Am not blowing the trumpets yet but This is certainly the best time to be an Arsenal fan
What a game, Eze was just electric and so was everybody else. It’s an amazing time to be a Goooner. Hopefully we crown all this with trophies and might as well add, the stars are aligning well to that.
What a day and to smash the spuds out of the ground and send them packing was unbelievable
One of the.most one sided NLD I have seen and the whole ground bar the spud end just felt this was going to be our day from the first whistle
EE took his goals with a look of nonchalance but not only his goals but his overall work rate was non stop
The whole team, squad, manager , staff, fans were unbelievable, we never got them an inch.bar the sloppy goal but had them pinned in near enough the whole game
A day to live in the memory of all us for.many a year
Onwards and upwards
The nonchalance of the attraction!! Loved it
Hopefully Eze has finally come to the Arsenal show. He has started slowly but maybe he will be more consistent now?
I said Thomas Frank made a mistake going to the Spuds, he was comfortable and happy at Brentford, and they loved him. He looked crazed and demented yesterday, the fans are already turning against him, and he should leave for his own mental heath.
Destiny is all.
COYG