Arsenal unexpectedly ‘snatches’ Tottenham’s £60 million star target.

21/08/2025 07:32:00 esportapi

Arsenal has reached a preliminary agreement with Crystal Palace to unexpectedly overtake Tottenham in the pursuit of Eberechi Eze.

Arsenal signs Eberechi Eze

Over the past ten days, Crystal Palace has been negotiating with Spurs for a deal valued at £55 million plus add-ons. However, Kai Havertz’s knee injury forced Arsenal to urgently find an attacking alternative, immediately putting Eze on their radar. The Gunners submitted a £60 million bid.

In reality, Arsenal had planned to recruit the 27-year-old English midfielder from the start of the transfer window and knew Eze favored them as well. But after spending £63 million on Viktor Gyokeres, the club wanted to focus on outgoing transfers before adding another left-sided attacker.

Coach Mikel Arteta had high expectations for Havertz to thrive alongside Gyokeres, but a recent hamstring injury means the German midfielder could be out for a long spell.

Arsenal has reached a preliminary agreement with Crystal Palace to surprisingly leapfrog Tottenham for Eberechi Eze, a player Spurs were targeting.

Eze had met with Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta in July, showing his willingness to join Arsenal, but no formal offer was made at that time. His £60 million release clause plus £8 million in add-ons also expired just last week.

Sensing an opening, Tottenham quickly approached after James Maddison was ruled out for the season. Although negotiations progressed, Palace delayed finding a replacement. They evaluated Christos Tzolis from Bruges but found the price too steep, then shifted their focus to Leicester’s El Bilal Khannous with a £30 million bid. Spurs were even willing to include Richarlison in the deal to facilitate the transfer.

However, this hesitation allowed Arsenal to intervene. The Gunners accepted Palace’s terms on Wednesday afternoon and swiftly persuaded Eze, who has been an Arsenal fan since childhood. Although Tottenham had agreed on terms with Palace and reached a personal agreement with the player, they still lost out because Palace wanted to keep Eze for their Conference League play-off against Fredrikstad.

Losing Eze, following previous failed pursuits like Morgan Gibbs-White, will leave Spurs fans disappointed, even though they managed to bring in Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha, and extend captain Cristian Romero’s contract.

Meanwhile, Arsenal initially aimed for a short-term solution for Havertz, but ultimately decided to return to their top target and outmaneuver their city rivals.

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