Old video footage of Tottenham and Arsenal transfer target Eberechi Eze expressing his love for the Gunners has emerged. The Crystal Palace playmaker has been linked with both north London clubs this summer.
Arsenal were initially expected to be Eze’s next destination due to their interest in signing a left-sided attacking midfielder. But their bitter rivals Tottenham now appear in pole position to sign the 27-year-old England international.
Spurs are understood to want to sign Eze for a fee of £55million plus £5m in bonuses, with his release clause of £68.5m having expired earlier this summer. However, they are yet to reach an agreement with Palace.
And with Eze said to be interested in a Tottenham move due to their Champions League football, he may have already played his final Premier League game for the Eagles on Sunday against Chelsea, where he had a stunning free-kick controversially chalked off.
Arsenal’s interest in Eze has cooled since they announced a new long-term contract for 18-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, with the England star’s arrival potentially blocking both Nwaneri and 15-year-old wonderkid Max Dowman’s pathway into the first team.
But while Spurs will have no issue with picking up the pieces, their fans are unlikely to be impressed by an old interview of Eze, which has surfaced online. In the clip, said to be filmed in 2018 while he was still an exciting prospect at Queens Park Rangers, Eze makes his allegiance to boyhood club Arsenal clear.
When asked who his favourite Premier League team was by journalist Alessandro Morolli-Schiavone, Eze responded: “Arsenal. I’ve just supported them from young. The way they play. I played with them when I was younger as well so they’re my favourite team.”
Asked whether he would leave if Arsenal came calling, he sheepishly replied: “I don’t know about all of that. I’m a QPR player now and I’m happy to be playing for QPR.” Eze was also asked who would win the Premier League that season (2018/19), to which he boldly predicted: “Arsenal. I believe, somehow.”
He went on to add: “When I was younger, I used to love Thierry Henry, and that’s sort of why I decided to sign for them. Just growing up playing for them, I’ve grown a love for them.”
Palace signed Eze from QPR back in the summer of 2020 for around £17m. Before that, he was on the books at Arsenal’s famous Hale End academy, though he later admitted he was left “crying for a week” after being released at the age of 13.
He has gone on to become one of the Premier League’s most exciting players at Palace, making 167 appearances in all competitions and scoring 39 goals – 14 of which came last season.
Spurs boss Thomas Frank was asked about a potential transfer following his side’s opening day win vs Burnley, but remained tight-lipped.
He said: “We are definitely in the market. I said it before, Daniel and Johan and Vinai are working relentlessly to try to do their best to improve the squad, but we only want to improve the squad if we can get players in that can improve the squad. I want to keep it like this.”
Asked specifically about Eze, the Dane responded: “I have that nice principle that I would like to speak about the players that are in-house and all the other speculations I don’t want to speak too much about that.”
Along with a fee still needing to be agreed, Eze’s departure will also depend on whether or not Palace can land a replacement before the window closes. They are currently chasing Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss and Club Brugge midfielder Christos Tzolis. Eze is expected to be available for Palace’s Conference League play-off on Thursday.
