Arsenal pulled off a big move late in the summer transfer window by signing England forward Eberechi Eze, who was a reported target of north London rivals Tottenham.
Eze joined from Crystal Palace on Saturday for a reported initial fee of £60 million pounds, taking Arsenal’s spending in this summer transfer window to around £250m – second only to Liverpool across the whole of European football.
For the 27-year-old Eze, it marks a return to the club where he spent some years as a youth-team player before being released at the age of 13.
Fans chanted “one of our own” and gave Eze a standing ovation when he walked out on to the field before kickoff at Arsenal's home match against Leeds, wearing his new team jersey with the number 10 on the back and blowing kisses to the crowd.
Tottenham seemed set to capture Eze after they reportedly reached an agreement with Palace on Wednesday, until the Gunners swooped in to hijack the transfer.
“We are absolutely delighted to bring Eberechi to Arsenal,” said Gunners manager Mikel Arteta.
“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.”
Eze becomes Arsenal's seventh signing of a summer transfer window following the arrivals of Viktor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera, Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard and Noni Madueke.
Arsenal have finished second in the Premier League for each of the past three seasons and last won a trophy five years ago.
But Eze's signing is a further indication of their determination to end a 22-year wait for the Premier League title.
Eze arrives at the Emirates assured of a place in Palace history after scoring the winning goal in their FA Cup final victory against Manchester City in May to secure the south London club's first major trophy.
A departure this summer was always a possibility given the former Arsenal trainee had entered the final two years of his deal at Selhurst Park and Tottenham moved first earlier this month.
Spurs declined to activate the release clause in Eze's contract with Palace, which expired on the opening day of the Premier League season and after talks failed to progress that weekend, the 27-year-old featured in the 0-0 draw at Chelsea.
A knee injury to Kai Havertz then sparked action from the Gunners. With Eze previously stating his boyhood allegiances to Arsenal, it was a simple choice for the south Londoner once they met Palace's asking price – and one that left Spurs and their fans shocked.
Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres fired home his first Arsenal goals in a thumping 5-0 victory over Leeds at the Emirates.
Jurrien Timber opened the scoring from a corner after 34 minutes before Bukayo Saka doubled the home side's advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Gyokeres bounced back from missing a sitter in the opening period to score on his home debut three minutes into the second half. Timber then landed his brace shortly before the hour mark.
Max Dowman, aged 15 years and 234 days, delivered an impressive second-half cameo from the bench when he became the second youngest player to represent Arsenal. And the teenager capped an eye-catching display by winning a penalty for his side in stoppage time which Gyokeres duly converted.
However, on a night of intent from Arsenal there were injury scares for both Bukayo Saka and Martin Odgeaard.
Odegaard fell on his right shoulder early on and never fully recovered, while Saka went down with an apparent hamstring problem in the second half.
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Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
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