It’s safe to say the summer window started slowly for Arsenal, but over the last few days, things have roared into life for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta may not have his elusive centre forward quite yet – Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres will have to wait – but Andrea Berta has been busy nonetheless.
The club’s new sporting director has already wrapped up three deals – pending confirmation – that will see backup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga arrive in a £5m move from Chelsea, Martin Zubimendi sign for over £50m from Real Sociedad and Brentford captain, Christian Norgaard, join.
Still, there could be a fourth deal wrapped up very shortly, with talks reportedly underway to sign 20-year-old centre-back Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia.
As we said, Berta has been a busy beaver but he’s not done yet.
Arsenal in talks to sign Premier League star
Arteta has enjoyed shopping for proven Premier League talent since becoming Arsenal manager.
Some of his most successful deals have seen the Spaniard prise away stars of the English top-flight, most notably Declan Rice.
Rice could have fallen flat under the weight of his £105m price tag but the midfielder has made that price look like a bargain, specifically after those two free-kicks against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
David Raya – the division’s Golden Glove winner – was also picked up from Brentford, while Leandro Trossard, Arsenal’s second top scorer in 2023/24 with 17 strikes, came in from Brighton.
That’s not forgetting Gabriel Jesus too. While the Brazilian has fallen by the wayside in the last two seasons, primarily due to injury, the forward was electric in the opening months of his Gunners career.
Signed from Manchester City, the club’s number 9 bagged five goals in his first eight league matches.
Now, in the summer of 2025, Arsenal are turning their attention to the Premier League again with Eberechi Eze in their crosshairs.
That’s according to the Sun, who reported this week that Berta has already held talks with one of the representatives of Eze.
It’s alleged that the north Londoners are set to go head to head with fierce rivals, Spurs, in order to get a deal across the line.
The Crystal Palace star has a £68m release clause in his contract, which according to a different source, can be paid in three instalments of £20m, plus £8m in add-ons.
That same source reports that Arsenal have actually already agreed personal terms with Eze and his camp.
Why Eze could be Arsenal’s new Saka
Bukayo Saka has been the poster boy for the Arteta project at the Emirates Stadium, and in the words of journalist Charles Watts, he is already the “best right winger in the world.”
Despite missing a large part of last season with a hamstring problem, Saka still finished the campaign on 12 goals and 15 assists, topping the tree at the club for that second metric.
Blessed with magical flair, creativity and the ability to produce something out of nothing, Eze is cut from a very similar cloth, not least because he also came through the Hale End academy.
The Arsenal youth system is highly regarded and we’ve seen, particularly in the last five to six years, a whole wealth of talent come through the ranks.
From Saka to Emile Smith Rowe and Ethan Nwaneri to Myles Lewis-Skelly, Arteta certainly has a lot to thank the academy for.
Eze was also part of that same system once upon a time but was released in 2011 when he was just 13 years of age.
After that setback, the Palace superstar headed to Fulham, Reading, Millwall and then QPR, where he finally found a home for himself. His rise since then has been meteoric. He’s now one of the most exciting players in the Premier League, and he’s a full England international too.
That wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible mentality, one that saw him overcome the adversity of being canned by Arsenal at such a young age.
Speaking in an interview back in 2020, Eze commented on the situation, revealing that it left him highly emotional.
“I remember crying in my room for a solid week, my mum telling me that it’s going to be OK but not being able to get over it. Then I went to Fulham and I was finally starting to enjoy my football again. We played Arsenal a few months later but, when I went over to shake the academy manager’s hand, I started welling up. All the feelings came back.”
In a further interview, the 26-year-old revealed how his mindset helped him to get over the whole ordeal.
“My dream was to play for them [Arsenal] so hearing them say no at 13 was tough and I remember training after I got released and I couldn’t focus. I was crying but I think that helped me so much in the other rejections because if I can get through Arsenal releasing me I can get through any other club releasing me. My mindset was if it was not going to be Arsenal I have to find somewhere else.”
Having got over that, Eze has taken the long way around to get to where he is now. It may have been a less glamorous route than Saka’s path to stardom but they certainly share the same mental fortitude and, vitally, similar attributes.
Far too often Arsenal’s talismanic number 7 has been left with everything to do in the final third. Players around him don’t chip in as regularly but in Eze, someone capable of rivalling Martin Odegaard, he’d find his match.
According FBref’s similar players tool, Saka is adjudged to be one of the most like-minded players in the Premier League to Saka, alongside the likes of Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers.
Eze might not have the left foot that Arsenal’s number 7 has but his positional versatility could be key. He primarily features through the middle as more of a no.10, however, he can also shine on the left-hand side.
Saka hasn’t played much behind the striker in his career, but like Eze, he loves to find space in central pockets as he attempts to dance his way through the defence.
So, what does the data say?
|
Eze vs Saka: 2024/25 Premier League |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat (per 90 mins) |
Eze |
Saka |
|
Goals |
0.28 |
0.31 |
|
Assists |
0.28 |
0.52 |
|
Shots |
3.47 |
3.44 |
|
Expected goals (xG) |
0.36 |
0.35 |
|
Key passes |
2.01 |
3.02 |
|
Progressive passes |
3.37 |
3.65 |
|
Successful take-ons |
2.33 |
2.14 |
|
Carries |
29.2 |
32.7 |
|
Progressive carries |
2.40 |
5.00 |
|
Carries into final 3rd |
1.67 |
1.67 |
|
Stats via FBref. |
||
Well, Saka is certainly the more progressive and more aggressive when it comes to carries and overall assists, but let us remember that Palace are hardly a team that has the ball regularly enough for Eze to create at a similar rate as his international colleague.
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
Last season, Oliver Glasner’s men sat 17th in the league for average possession, enjoying just 42.4% of the ball. In contrast, Arsenal sat third with 57.1% of possession.
On that evidence, Saka is always going to produce higher numbers in the final third but the fact the two England stars are as close as they are for metrics like successful take-ons, key passes and progressive passes suggests that Eze’s numbers could soar to new heights at a team like Arsenal, a ball dominant side.
The Eagles star may not play in the same position as Saka but he could just be the right-footed version.
£68m is a lot to pay when you also need to get a striker over the line this summer but given it could be paid in instalments, this really does feel like a no-brainer for the Gunners.
He’s like Saka, he’s Premier League proven, and he’s always dreamt of playing for the club. What’s not to like?
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