Arsenal are closing in on a move for Tottenham Hotspur target Eberechi Eze
The Lilywhites faithful were convinced that Tottenham Hotspur were on the brink of landing Eberechi Eze, given the fact that the talks with Crystal Palace had reached the crucial stage and Thomas Frank finally looked set to get his statement attacking the signing, but then Arsenal turned up. (per David Ornstein)
The twist arrived after Kai Havertz reportedly picked up a knee injury, which forced the Gunners into the market, and Mikel Arteta went straight onto the very player that Daniel Levy thought he had lined up. It’s classic. Tottenham move first, do the hard yards, get close to the finish line, and then their rivals come steaming in.
Tottenham had a massive lead in Eze transfer
The Lilywhites were leading the race to bring Eze to North London till earlier today, but the reality is that he has grown up as an Arsenal supporter, which leans him towards wanting a switch to Emirates.
But looking at this from Tottenham’s perspective, this one is definitely a punch to the gut given how all this energy was invested in negotiations but only for Arsenal to exploit timing and sentiment. And then Daniel Levy has an injury problem of his own, which means he was planning to bring Eze for this summer, but now it looks like he will have to look elsewhere.
That being said, Palace are holding firm with Oliver Glasner still naming the England international in his Conference League squad for Thursday, which buys the Eagles time to bring in a replacement, with Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss among consideration, but Steve Parish won’t greenlight any transfer for Eze till they bring in a replacement.
It is not official, though; Daniel Levy can still press on, but it does look like momentum has shifted with Arsenal now aggressively at the table, but it is also a fair understanding that his preference counts for plenty, and if that swings red, Tottenham will walk away and start looking at other players like Maghnes Akliouche and Savinho.
But that being said, this isn’t over yet, but it does look like it is moving in the direction of Arsenal. Levy had Eze within reach, but he dragged on so much, and now you see Andrea Berta shoving the door open.
What do you make of Tottenham giving room for Arsenal to hijack the Eze transfer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.