Arsenal have shaken hands over new player addition since August 10
Arsenal had actually struck the principles of an agreement with Crystal Palace for Eberechi Eze as far back as August 10, according to the Independent journalist Miguel Delaney.
However, the Gunners managed to keep it extraordinarily quiet, with the news only emerging on Wednesday evening.
Tottenham Hotspur reached a verbal agreement with Palace to sign Eze earlier in the day yesterday, but they never got a proper answer.
The England international made it clear that his preference had always been to join Arsenal, and he did not hesitate to turn down Spurs once the Gunners indicated a willingness to sign him.
It did not look like Arsenal would follow through on their agreement from earlier this month.
It was believed that they wanted to sell players first before signing, and that they preferred a left winger.
As a result, interest in Eze was repeatedly played down, but injury to Kai Havertz changed their stance.
The German attacker is set to miss action for a while following a knee injury, which made the Gunners consider bringing in a new attacker.
They will be paying Palace an initial £60 million and £7.5m in add-ons, and Eze is expected to have his medical on Friday.
The 27-year-old is likely to make his final appearance for the Eagles when they play Norwegian club Fredrikstad in the first-leg of the Europa Conference League play-off this evening at Selhurst Park.
Eze featured for the Arsenal academy as a schoolboy and has always dreamed of returning to the club he supported as a kid.
He came very close to joining Spurs after things went quiet on the part of the Gunners for weeks, but the blow to Havertz left them with no choice.
They started the 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend and are back in action on Saturday.
Arsenal host Leeds United at Emirates Stadium for their first league game at home, but it could come too early for Eze.
A trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool follows, and the attacker could be in line to make his Gunners debut against one of his familiar foes.
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