Eberechi Eze has signed for Arsenal in a £67.5m deal from Crystal Palace after his move to Tottenham Hotspur was hijacked by their north London rivals.
The Gunners, who revealed the signing ahead of Saturday’s game against Leeds, live on Sky Sports, will pay a guaranteed fee of £60m plus £7.5m in add-ons for the forward, taking their summer transfer spend to £267m.
Eze has signed a four-year deal with Arsenal, with the option of a further year, and will wear the No 10 shirt – previously worn by the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Mesut Ozil and Robin van Persie – as well as academy players Jack Wilshere and Emile Smith Rowe.
Spurs felt they had an agreement in place with Palace and Eze on Wednesday before their north London rivals reignited their interest and swooped in following an injury to Kai Havertz – though it is understood the German’s injury is a contributing factor – not the primary reason – for signing Eze.
Eze was one of a number of players Arsenal looked into in the first few weeks of the window, where, significantly, a lot of the work was carried out in June when they explored the conditions of a deal. The Gunners consider Eze as an option on the left, in the middle of the pitch – but also on the right.
Spurs were considering offering Richarlison in a deal for Eze. That would have freed up striker space for them to try and sign Yoane Wissa, who played under Thomas Frank at Brentford. Wissa still wants to join Newcastle, who had a second bid rejected on Wednesday.
