Eberechi Eze and Arsenal, a marriage made in N7. He is exactly the player they need, a dribbler with creative spark who can break down the most stubborn defences; they are the club he most desires, able to fulfil his ambition to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League, and the only one club who can soothe the scars of his youth.
“I was 13 [when Arsenal released me],” Eze told The Independent in 2020, then a young breakout star at QPR. “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.”