Arsenal have reached an agreement in principle with Crystal Palace to dramatically hijack Tottenham’s move for Eberechi Eze in a deal worth around £60million – and it has now emerged that the player was convinced on joining the Gunners after a meeting with key club figures last month.
Spurs have been in negotiations with Palace over Eze for the past 10 days as they tried to agree a move worth £55million plus add-ons.
However, after Kai Havertz suffered a knee injury, the Gunners’ need for another attacker saw them turn to Eze.
Arsenal had earmarked signing the 27-year-old England international earlier in the window and knew they were his preferred destination but, following their £63m outlay on Viktor Gyokeres, they had wanted to concentrate on outgoings before adding another left-sided attacker.
But with Havertz set to be absent for an extended period, after suffering his injury in Arsenal’s win at Manchester United on Sunday, the Gunners acted to steal Eze from under the nose of their fierce rivals.
Sporting director Andrea Berta and manager Mikel Arteta met Eze last month, and he was sold on the idea of moving to the Gunners but an offer failed to materialise at that time.
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Eze’s release clause of £60m, plus £8m in bonuses, lapsed last week.
Daily Mail Sport understands Spurs agreed to Palace’s demands on Wednesday and also agreed terms with Eze. At that stage, the player was keen to finalise the move.
However, Palace are understood to have insisted Eze remain available for their Conference League play-off first leg against Norwegian side Fredrikstad on Thursday night.
Arsenal then stepped in on Wednesday afternoon.
Tottenham moved for Eze after James Maddison was ruled out for the majority of the season with a serious knee injury.
Talks had been progressing but stalled as Palace scrambled for a suitable replacement, with Spurs even understood to have proposed offering forward Richarlison as part of the deal to help negotiations progress.
But with Eze now expected to choose Arsenal, Spurs’ inability to close the deal will prompt further criticism from fans, after the club missed out on Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White this summer.
There is dismay at Tottenham at how things have unfolded, but a belief that there is little more that they could have done.
The club remain interested in Manchester City winger Savinho and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa but both clubs are reluctant to sell. Eze has been training with Palace ahead of tonight’s game, along with Liverpool target Marc Guehi.
Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, boss Oliver Glasner said: ‘They will play a crucial part for as long as they’re here.’
