Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze appeared to be moving closer to a transfer to Arsenal worth a reported £60 million ($81 million) after the England international was left out of the Eagles’ team for their European tie on Thursday.
There was no place for Eze in either the starting 11 or on the substitutes bench selected by Palace boss Oliver Glasner for the Conference League play-off at home to Fredrikstad.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder may now miss out on a final farewell to the Selhurst Park faithful for whom he is a hero after scoring the winning goal in Palace’s FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City at Wembley in May — the first time the south London club had lifted a major trophy.
Tottenham Hotspur appeared to be on course to sign Eze during the Premier League’s ongoing summer transfer window, but that deal has been scuppered by their arch north London rivals Arsenal.
Were Eze, released by Arsenal as a 13-year-old, to join the Gunners, he would become their seventh signing of the window and take their spending in this transfer period to beyond £250 million, with striker Viktor Gyokeres and midfielder Martin Zubimendi among those to have already made recent high-profile moves to the Emirates.
READ ALSO: Arsenal Overpower Man United To Begin Premier League Campaign
The Gunners’ interest in Eze intensified this week following a knee injury suffered by Kai Havertz.
The German international came on as a second-half substitute in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Manchester United in their opening Premier League game of the new season last week and completed the match.
Havertz, however, but did not feature in the club’s open training session at the Emirates on Wednesday.
It is unclear how long Havertz will be on the sidelines, but Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta appears keen to strengthen his squad regardless, as he bids to lead the Gunners to their first Premier League title in 22 years, having finished runners-up to Liverpool last season.
Spurs, by contrast, ended the campaign in a lowly 17th place, although they did win the Europa League final.
Arteta is due to speak to the media on Friday to preview Arsenal’s league match away to Leeds on Saturday.
AFP