Arsenal announce Eberechi Eze signing as shirt number, contract, fee, where he’ll play all revealed

Arsenal have officially confirmed the signing of Eberechi Eze and the finer details in his move have come to light.

Eze, 27, had looked on course to join Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham. Spurs had agreements in place both with Eze and Crystal Palace, but failed to close the deal before Arsenal thundered in with a spectacular hijack.

The knee injury suffered by Kai Havertz spurred the Gunners on. Per Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal reached a club-to-club agreement with Crystal Palace for roughly the same total as Tottenham, but put forward more favourable terms (easier to achieve add-ons / quicker payments).

Eze – a boyhood Arsenal fan – showed no hesitation in aborting his move to Tottenham in favour of joining Arsenal and personal terms were quickly sealed.

A medical was passed on Friday and on Saturday prior to Arsenal’s clash with Leeds United, the Gunners officially announced the deal was done. Eze was then unveiled on the Emirates pitch prior to kick-off.

The club’s statement confirming the coup began: “We are delighted to announce the signing of Eberechi Eze on a long-term contract.

“The 27-year-old England international returns to north London, where his football journey began in our academy before he rose to prominence as one of the Premier League’s most dynamic attacking talents.”

Reacting to the move, sporting director, Andrea Berta, said: “We are so pleased to have completed this deal to bring Eberechi to Arsenal.

“Eberechi is a creative and explosive talent with huge technical quality – also a big-game player, with his experience at international level with England also underlining his quality and character.

“There has been excellent teamwork across the club to make this transfer happen and we are very confident Eberechi will be an important addition to our squad as we continue to build for success.”

Manager Mikel Arteta added: “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.”

Finer details in Eberechi Eze move

Regarding cost, Arsenal are paying £60m plus £7.5m in add-ons. As mentioned, the add-ons are easier to achieve than those Tottenham had agreed with Palace.

Eze has signed a four-year contract with a club option for a fifth season. As such, he is under Arsenal’s control until the summer of 2030, at which point Eze will be 32.

Eze will wear the number 10 shirt at the Emirates and as the number suggests, that is the position Arsenal believe he’s at his most effective in.

As such, Eze will provide competition for Martin Odegaard and also covers the injury absence of Kai Havertz who had operated in an advanced midfield role when not deputising up top.

According to reporter Ben Jacobs, Arsenal also feel Eze can be deployed on both the left and right flanks if required. However, it’s in central areas where we can expect to see Eze play the most.

A prior report from Jacobs claimed the discussions Eze held with both Arteta and Berta way back in early-July played a pivotal role in convincing Eze to choose Arsenal when they successfully attempted to hijack Tottenham’s move earlier this week.