Arsenal complete sensational Eberechi Eze transfer after hijacking Tottenham deal

Arsenal have completed the signing of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace - landing the England international from under the nose of arch rivals Tottenham.

The Gunners have spent £67.5million to secure the signature of the winger, who helped the Eagles claim FA Cup glory last season with goals in the semi-final and final. Eze has long been expected to eventually leave Selhurst Park and had favoured a move to the Emirates.

Arsenal will pay an initial £60m to sign the playmaker, with add-ons potentially taking the total fee to £67.5m. Eze will wear No.10 - the shirt number he had at Palace - at the Emirates Stadium.

Speaking about his new signing following the announcement, manager Mikel Arteta said: “We are absolutely delighted to bring Eberechi to Arsenal. He is a powerful and exciting player who will give us a new dimension in our attacking game. What stands out just as much as his talent and intelligence as a player, is the way he has worked hard throughout his career to get where he is today.

"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. We all look forward to start working with Eberechi soon.”

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The 27-year-old produced the best scoring season of his career last term, finding the net 14 times, and he will now bolster a frontline that has also had Viktor Gyokeres added to it.

Eze is a boyhood Arsenal fan and played in their academy as a youngster. Tottenham though had agreed terms with both Palace and the player, but the deal wasn't totally finalised as the Eagles planned to use the winger for their Europa Conference League qualifier.

That left the door slightly open and Arsenal barged in as they acted on their long standing interest in the player. As soon as they came to the party and stumped up the cash it was an easy call for Eze, given his emotional connection.

It is a huge blow for Thomas Frank, who is in the midst of his first summer in charge at Tottenham. After adding Mohamed Kudus from West Ham he missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White, who later signed a new deal at Nottingham Forest. Eze will now go down as another near miss.

The England star's versatility will prove a huge asset forArteta this term. Arsenal already have a wealth of talent available to them in the form of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Ethan Nwaneri and Noni Madueke, another of their summer signings.

Eze played in Palace's season opener at Chelsea, seeing a free-kick strike disallowed by VAR, and is ready to go as and when Arteta wants to unleash him. Arsenal play Leeds on Saturday evening, but is likely to make his debut in an early test of their title credentials against Liverpool.

Palace released a statement thanking Eze for his services to the club. Chairman Steve Parish said: “Throughout five years here, Eberechi has been an incredible presence, having had a huge impact on Crystal Palace Football Club and been an inspiration for the people of South London.

"Eberechi's journey is truly incredible: from being released from multiple clubs, to scoring the Cup final-winning goal, and helping bring the club its first major trophy in 164 years, he is a huge inspiration and role model.

"Just as importantly, and no less inspirationally, Ebs is a great person, always positive, always a positive presence, and humble in his dealings with everyone, regularly giving his time to the club's charity and other philanthropy. He epitomises everything good about the modern footballer.

“We, as a club, will always hold Ebs in our hearts and wish him all the success for the future. He will always be welcome back at Selhurst Park.”

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