In the afternoon hours of Wednesday, Arsenal sent shockwaves through the Premier League when David Ornstein reported that the north London club had made a move for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze. Despite a lengthy courtship by Tottenham, who had by all accounts crossed all of the Ts and dotted all of the Is for a blockbuster deal for the midfield phenom, the phone call Eze had been patiently waiting for finally came. By Thursday, a deal had been struck. Player and club were in agreement. Gears
were in motion, and Eze had the move of his dreams.
And now, it’s official. Eberechi Eze is an Arsenal player, joining on a four-year contract. In a story that even Hollywood couldn’t script, the former Hale End academy player and lifelong Arsenal fan has come home to make his mark. And he’ll be wearing the #10 shirt.
The Eze fairytale has been told and retold countless times in the wake of Wednesday’s news. Released from the Arsenal academy at 13, Eze spent years bouncing between clubs, getting shuffled among a slew of sides before finally breaking out at Crystal Palace, all the while holding out hope that his boyhood club would come calling. England call-ups begot interest from suitors, but he stayed true to Palace, repaying the Eagles’ belief with their first major trophy, scoring the winning goal against Manchester City in the FA Cup at the end of last season.
That match felt like a proper swan song for a player that even the most optimistic of Palace fans knew would one day leave. At Selhurst Park, his dazzling dribbling and unapologetic verve caught eyes and turned heads as he rose the ranks in England. His derring do ran antithetical to the proscribed style and tactical sterility that have slowly suffocated the beautiful individualism of the game for the sake of efficiency and results. Mid-table finishes did not do justice to his ability, yet he remained true to the Palace faithful. In the end, the choice was his to make, and he could have hand-picked his next destination.
And still, it was always Arsenal.
Modern football transfers have become largely emotionless, performative transactions. The shock of even the highest profile transfer has been muted by the omnipresence of social media, the romantic tension of a transfer all but neutered for the sake of endless updates. Nothing feels well and truly surprising anymore.
Eze’s transfer wasn’t unusual in that regard. Early interest by the Gunners was well documented, and every twist and turn over the last several days has been analyzed, dissected, and reported by every major outlet. But it can’t help but feel wholly different this time around. In a landscape of transfer predictability, the pure elation by the Arsenal fanbase harkened back to shock moves of the past that set the fandom ablaze. Özil at the 11th hour. Campbell being unveiled by Wenger at a press conference. And now, Eze out from under Spurs’ nose.
The 27 year old English international’s love of Arsenal has never been a secret. Countless videos from Eze’s past have been dusted off and shared, each with one singular running theme: a desire to play for Arsenal one day. At one point, it seemed like yet another pipe dream. The golden-footed star yearning for his dream move, only to have the cold, merciless transactional nature of the game scupper their destiny. For every Eze, there has been a Zaha, shamelessly making their desire known, a Griezman gutted when the call never came.
Destiny, in and of itself, is a brutally naive concept in sports. Often, the stars just don’t align, and the iron cools before the hammer ever has a chance to strike. One domino falls, and the entire plan falls to a million fruitless bits. This time, though, the opportunity came from a place that has haunted Arsenal in recent years, when it was announced on Wednesday morning that Kai Havertz was facing a potentially lengthy absence following a knee injury suffered during Arsenal’s opening day victory over Manchester United.
The club then did something it has rarely done in the past: they got out of their own way and made their move. In a matter of hours, the decision, and the call, was made. Though Spurs had laid substantial groundwork, even going as far as to agreeing to terms with Eze, the lack of a final deal being struck planted seeds of apprehension in the Tottenham fanbase. While some fans gloated at what they were sure was going to be a triumph over their rivals, others knew. They always knew.
One telling hallmark of the truly massive nature of the transfer has been the near unanimous reaction by fans of countless clubs. Most signings get bantered and rationalized to death, whether it be out of incredulity or pettiness or sheer jealousy. But the unequivocal response has been that Eze’s signing is a home run that may have just put Arsenal into a dangerously potent position.
Eze’s signing isn’t just a transfer; it is a statement. After a busy summer filled with exceptionally shrewd signings, there was still a sense that a final player was needed to put the window into a stratospheric echelon. It is impossible to say whether Eze will be the final piece of the puzzle, but the feeling across the Arsenal fandom has been that this was the one that needed to be done. It’s finally happened, and the mood has boiled over into childlike glee.
Welcome to the Arsenal, Eze. You’re home.
