ARSENAL are open to including a player in their offer for Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze.
SunSport exclusively reported that Arsenal chief Andrea Berta had held talks with the player’s representative as they look to beat Spurs to his signature.
Eze, who turned 27 last week, is open to the move and has been training to stay fit in anticipation, but Palace are determined to extract the full £68million from his release clause.
Arsenal, who are on a spending spree, are closing in on signing Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners have already agreed on personal terms with the player and are ironing out the final details with his club.
Mikel Arteta’s side have already signed Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and long-term target Martin Zubimendi.
They are also very close to signing Christian Norgaard.
However, Arsenal chief Berta is determined to get the Eze deal over the line and will try to convince Palace, who might consider accepting a promising defender as part of the deal.
While the player being considered as a makeweight in the deal is not known, SunSport understands he is an emerging star who’s played a handful of games for the first team.
The Eagles are likely to lose Marc Guehi, who is wanted by both Liverpool and Newcastle, even though they have identified Sporting’s Ousmane Diomande as an ideal replacement.
Palace held a remote interest in Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, who impressed during his brief spell at Selhurst Park, but his age and wages led Palace to close that chapter and turn their attention to the 21-year-old Diomande.
The addition of another young defender as part of the Eze move is likely to turn heads at Palace, as it would be useful, given that Chadi Riad, who joined Palace last summer from Real Betis, is expected to miss the start of next season due to the ACL injury he picked up.
Eze still has two years left on his Crystal Palace contract and is determined not to sour his relationship with the club in order to secure a move.
He observed closely how Michael Olise handled his delicate transfer amid intense interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
That respectful way of leaving a club has meant the Crystal Palace training ground was open to Olise, who trained there for a week before joining Bayern Munich for the Club World Cup.
Eze is grateful for the role he’s played in the history of Palace and is widely regarded a club legend after scoring the goal that won them the FA Cup last season.
So he would want a deal that makes everyone happy before he departs.
SunSport has taken a deep dive into how Eze would guarantee more goals for the Gunners.
