Arsenal pulled off a big move late in the summer transfer window by signing England forward Eberechi Eze, who was a reported target of north London rival Tottenham.
Eze joined from Crystal Palace on Saturday for a reported initial fee of 60 million pounds ($80 million). That took Arsenal’s spending in this summer transfer window to around 250 million pounds ($335 million), second only to Liverpool across the whole of European soccer.
For the 27-year-old Eze, it marks a return to the club where he spent some years as a youth-team player being being released at the age of 13.
Fans chanted “one of our own” and gave Eze a standing ovation when he walked out onto the field before kickoff at Arsenal's Premier League home match against Leeds, wearing his new team jersey with the No. 10 on the back and blowing kisses to the crowd.
The move had been confirmed only minutes before by Arsenal.
“His journey, his mentality, and his ambition are exactly what we want in our team, and we love how much it means to him and his family to be joining our club,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
“We all look forward to start working with Eberechi soon.”
Eze started his professional career at second-tier Queens Park Rangers before moving to Palace in 2020, where he became one of the most exciting attacking midfielders in the league and a regular in the England squad.
Last season, Eze scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final as Palace beat Manchester City 1-0 to qualify for European competition for the first time. Palace played its first ever European fixture on Thursday — a Conference League playoff against Fredrikstad of Norway — but Eze didn’t play in it so he could complete his move to Arsenal.
Tottenham, which has lost attacking midfielders James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski to long-term injuries, reportedly was in talks with Eze but he has picked Arsenal, where there is more competition but a greater chance of winning the biggest trophies in the game.
Eze is likely to compete with Gabriel Martinelli for a place on the left wing, while he can also play as one of the No. 8s in central midfield. Arsenal will hope the addition of Eze, along with those of holding midfielder Martin Zubimendi, striker Viktor Gyokeres and winger Noni Madueke, can be the difference in the Premier League title race this season after three straight runner-up finishes.
Arsenal will also be one of the favorites in the Champions League, having reached the semifinals last season. Eze has never played in Europe’s top competition.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
