Eberechi Eze to Arsenal is one deal Gooners are looking forward to. The Gunners are understood to be preparing an offer below Eze’s £68m release clause.
However, would Arsenal sign Eberechi Eze only to have him warm the bench?
The Crystal Palace midfielder has been warned that he might not have a guaranteed starting spot at the Emirates.
Eze’s Arsenal role questioned by pundit
This warning was issued by former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, who said:
“I don’t think [Arsenal] need Eze. Why do Arsenal need Eze? Where is he going to play?
“You’ve got Martin Zubimendi as a holding midfielder, Declan Rice on the left-hand side of the No.8, Martin Odegaard on the right-hand side.
“Then you’ve got a winger – out of Noni Madueke or Gabriel Martinelli… He’d play where Declan Rice plays.”
As cited by Rio Ferdinand Presents on YouTube, these comments cast some doubt on how Eze would fit into Arsenal’s current starting line-up.
That said, Gooners will take comfort in knowing that the final decision lies with Mikel Arteta, not pundits.
Eze tipped as Arteta’s final piece of the puzzle
With Arsenal competing on multiple fronts, Arteta will need to rotate his squad to keep players fresh and motivated. Eze offers the kind of flexibility and flair that could prove vital across competitions.
It has already been revealed that Eze, according to the Arsenal boss, is the final piece of his puzzle. A report by The Sun described how Arteta sees the Crystal Palace man as the “final piece in the jigsaw” for a new-look side capable of winning the Premier League.
Eze brings an X factor Arsenal have arguably lacked, especially against teams that sit in low or mid blocks. His arrival should ease the creative burden on Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.
He could also prove a perfect fit on the left flank, an area that has not quite looked the same since Granit Xhaka’s departure.
It would be baffling for Eze to join Arsenal and struggle for game time, considering his versatility. He can play as a 10, an eight, a left winger, or even a false nine.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments Gooners. Where would Eze make the most impact for you?
Daniel O
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I’ve had the unpopular premonition that if Eze is bought, Declan’s gametime might be significantly reduced in the left midfield position. Declan’s a fine player, but is a bit more of a workhorse than technical which is more of what u need to break low blocks. On the other hand, Eze is not an all out left winger and will often look to drift into midfield, so he doesn’t bring premium wingplay to the left wing whatsoever. I doubt we’ll make the buy though unless Trossard or Martinelli leaves.
I’m unfortunately doubting that we’ll buy him at all regardless of sales activity. He’s been my favorite target for multiple seasons now. We needed him much more at this time last season than we do now but he apparently wasn’t on MA/Edu’s radar for whatever reason(s). Even Parish has stated how surprised he was that he didn’t hit the door along with Olise last summer.
Since Rice moved into the left 8 role replacing Xhaka our left side has lacked punch and productivity. Eze is inherently a more creative player than Rice, so would be a good fit for that role now in many games, especially now we have Zubimendi and Nørgaard in front of the defense. Rice can rotate between left 8 and 6 or be part of a double pivot. Eze can also rotate with Ødegaard. I see Eze as a great attacking midfield or left 8 option to have as a starter or off the bench. Not as a winger.
But yeah – we can only hope.
👍Bergkampfwagen. Eze opens up so many possibilities.
We have cheque book manager, easy to figure it out.
Demote Rice and play Eze
Either Rice or Eze plays, so either 105M or 65M worth of talent is on the bench, rather than coaching a lesser known talent to be a back up
With 1 billion investment in talent, we could be the next Real Madrid (remember they too wear the Emirates jersey) who win nothing.
Mikel looks like a cranky kid in the candy store, unable to choose or justify his choice.
The good part is that Berta is bringing in quality players so that the future manager can be an instant success by just tweaking the tactics.
maybe we need another effective coach who can get the best of the team. out attacking players have regressed much
Very true, as a true gunner you hit the bullseye. We want the best for AFC – Arsenal Football Club
But those “quality players” are the ones identified by Mikel Arteta, unless your saying that Berta is now choosing who comes in?
Every Gunner and his dog knew whose choice Sesko was, and we know now that Berta got us a star in Gyoks.
Raya
Timber/White… Saliba…Gabs.. Myles
Rice… Odergaard.. Zubimendi
Saka….EZE /Rodrygo
Gyokeres
If he is better than trossad and Martineli then he is welcome.
Given all the numerous and consistent reports in the media for weeks now that Arsenal will be buying Eze, I wouldn’t be that surprised should it not happen after all.
I agree Bertie. Especially with our apparent lack of interest last summer, I’ve been skeptical about our real interest from the beginning regardless of my personal hopes.
I don’t think we need to play Rice and Zubimendi together vs low block teams. In those cases Eze or Kai should start. Will Arteta do that, I doubt very much
Maybe not knowing where he’ll play is the whole point of the signing. Hasn’t it been said that we’ve become too predictable?Every squad needs a wild card. A card the coach can play to keep the opposition guessing or to create chaos.Some unpredictability is healthy.
In a sense, Eze will actually be replacing some of what pre-injury Jesus offered. The chaos, the flair and the ability to go past players . Jesus had somewhat of a free role and Eze could be that. Like prime Jesus, he has the ability to draw defenders leaving the space for other players to cause problems.
Exactly Onyango. Excellent analogy to what Jesus provided.
Let’s get Eze in he is an uber talented threat so I really don’t need to be concerned with where his start position is precisely. Far as i see the lad has distinguished himself with his dedication to the game – and is already a gunner at heart. Should he become are latest arrival then this would be a truly satisfying window – he’d likely bring the best out of Martinelli and all of our other arsenal attacking options.
Well Dan O I’ll bite again. Everything you have written under Eze Tipped is unfactual rubbish. As Rio is only regurgitating what I’m already saying, Rio is obviously right.
Rio is bent in his love for Man Utd, has little love for their rivals, and has been marinated in ManU Arsenal rivalry from his playing days, but he has been there as a player and is capable of talking original and worthwhile comment. However on this occasion Rio is merely plagiarising what I have already written on this site numerous times – Eze is not the messiah deluded gooners think he is – he offers little defensively to any team, his passive passing offers nothing to beating low block, but worse in that as in all magicians without a natural position, Eze cannot start for International sides or top sides with systems to incorporate all their stars. The only way to get the best from Eze is for a middle shelf club to start with a blank page, place Eze on it, and build the side around him – he can’t help number 6 or defence so don’t need to ask for that by ensuring others can make up for it, he can’t pass creatively or aggressively so ensure he plays with others who can (some Gooners think Eze can rotate in place of Ode without changing the system, revealing they are clueless about player types, even more daftly some think Eze can be signed to do a job on left wing better than fast Gabi).
For me personally I hope we do get Eze. But I’m getting bored of this constant connection and there still being no concrete movement or any kind of announcement.
So a part of me is starting to doubt whether there’s any truth to this story at all. I hope there is truth, but come on Arsenal get on with it.
And as for Ferdinand’s view of where will he play and his concerns regarding playing time for Eze. Well my answer to Eze and any player that comes to Arsenal, if your not willing to compete for your place then stay away. Big clubs have big competition, if players are not willing to fight for their place in the starting line-up, then jog on.🤷♂️
I’m amazed that a former professional football player can hold this opinion. Competition for places is nothing new, and did he not watch us being crippled last season so much so that it took away our chances of winning
Everything’s fine, we don’t need Eze we are getting Rodrygo in exchange for William Saliba, according to Football 365!! Luckily we only go through this madness every six months.
👍🤣Andrew Elder
Football is about competition, there is no permanent wing, every body is competing. Ferdinand should mind his business.