Arsenal face pressure to sign Eberechi Eze, with deal details revealed: report

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace looks on during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Crystal Palace and Norwich City at Selhurst Park on August 27, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images) Crystal Palace squad for 2024/25.

Arsenal are reportedly front of the queue in the race to sign Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze.

The 27-year-old is not short of attention following a season that saw him register 25 goal involvements in all competitions, including the small matter of an FA Cup-winning goal in the final against Manchester City.

The existence of the Arsenal target's £68m release clause has only served to make him more attractive, as potential suitors know exactly what it’ll take to get him.

Arsenal lay foundations of Eberechi Eze approach

Eze will go down in Palace's history books for his pivotal role in their first major silverware (Image credit: Alamy)

Having recently tied up business for the likes of Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera, the Gunners are now eyeing Eze – recognised in FourFourTwo's list of the best attacking midfielders in the world.

However, despite the fee seemingly set by the release clause, Arsenal want to try and negotiate that down, according to The Athletic, partly due to the player’s age. They like Eze, but are happy with their current business, including a new contract for Ethan Nwaneri, so look unlikely to stretch themselves to make the deal work.

Arsenal feel they can relax in their Eze pursuit thanks to tying youngster Ethan Nwaneri to a new deal (Image credit: Getty Images)

CaughtOffside add another mooted compromise, which would see the north London outfit pay £30m up front and settle the remaining £38m over two years.

Arsenal are willing to wait, including allowing Palace time to find a replacement, but the deal could slip by them if they aren’t careful, with Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all not entirely out of the race.

Another suggested method of smoothing the impasse is throwing winger Reiss Nelson into the deal, reducing the cash amount the Gunners would need to pay.

Boss Mikel Arteta is believed to value what Eze could add to his side, offering competition and cover to Martin Odegaard in the centre and Gabriel Martinelli over on the left wing.

Mikel Arteta is believed to admire Eze's ability to play in multiple roles (Image credit: Getty Images)

In FourFourTwo’s view, this deal looks very much look a desirable deal than an absolute necessity in the minds of Arsenal’s powerbrokers.

As mentioned, they already have Odegaard and Martinelli in the positions likely to be taken by Eze, but both current Arsenal men faced some criticism last term.

With Liverpool assembling a squad that would look unrealistic on most video games, and a Pep Guardiola-led Manchester City never to be underestimated, Arsenal boosting their squad with a talent like Eze may be more important than they realise for their title hopes.

Eze is worth €55m, according to Transfermarkt.