Eberechi Eze completed his transfer from Crystal Palace to Arsenal on Saturday, and the details of the deal are starting to emerge in the media.
Arsenal completed the hijack of Eberechi Eze’s transfer to Tottenham Hotspur this week, with The Athletic reporting that the Gunners ultimately agreed a fee of £60m with a further £7.5m in potential add-ons.
Eze has reportedly signed an initial four-year deal, but Arsenal hold an option to extend for an additional year. Should the England international see out his contract, he’ll remain in north London until June 30th, 2030, at which point he’ll have just turned 32.
It’s no secret what number the midfielder will wear, as he was sporting the number 10 as he was presented on the Emirates Stadium pitch on Saturday.
Eze did everything he could to ensure it would be Arsenal he joined this summer, rather than Tottenham Hotspur. As recently as Wednesday, Spurs were leading the race and had an agreement in place with Crystal Palace for the transfer.
But James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that Eze decided to take matters into his own hands and call up Mikel Arteta to see if an Arsenal deal was still possible. By the end of the day, Eze was informed that deal was all but done.
McNicholas adds that Eze had also been pushing his England teammates at Arsenal to encourage the club to sign him, and the player’s desire to join seemingly impressed the club.
When asked on Saturday about Eze’s phone call to him, Arteta responded: “That shows you how much he wanted to come.
“It’s very difficult sometimes, because you want to be very open and transparent with the players, and obviously they have to make decisions in their careers that are very, very important. But I’m delighted to have him, you can tell how much it means for him, for his whole family.
“So welcome to our family, and I’m sure we’re going to have some great moments together!”