For a long period prior, the deal for Eberechi Eze to join Arsenal was completely on ice, as Arsenal was focused on finalizing Ethan Nwaneri’s contract extension and Victor Gyökeres’ transfer at the time. However, in the past 24 hours, just as
Tottenham Hotspur had entered very advanced talks with the player and the club and were highly confident of signing Eze, Arsenal made a lightning move and directly hijacked the deal.
Kai Havertz’s unexpected injury directly prompted Arsenal to take action in the transfer market, deciding within hours to match Tottenham’s offer for Eze. Tottenham’s bid was £55 million fixed plus £5 million in add-ons, while Arsenal offered a slightly higher figure on top of matching that, with a better payment structure and offer details, and easier-to-achieve add-on clauses. Additionally, Arsenal presented a better personal offer to the player than Tottenham’s.
The player’s willingness also played a key role—his dream has always been to play for Arsenal. This transfer seemed impossible before today, and it can be said that Havertz’s injury opened the door for Eze’s move to Arsenal.
Tottenham had previously reached a verbal agreement with Eze and had been engaged in very advanced talks for around ten days, coming extremely close to signing him. But just at that point—when they were very close but hadn’t yet finalized the deal—Arsenal suddenly stepped in and completed the hijack.
