Arsenal are set to hijack Tottenham’s pursuit of Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze after agreeing to a fee of close to £68 million ($92m) for the England international, sources have told ESPN.
On a dramatic day of activity, Spurs on Wednesday morning were confident of finalizing a deal after reaching an agreement with Palace — and personal terms with Eze.
– Sources: Havertz set for spell out with knee injury
– Saliba demands Arsenal improve in bid for title
– How clubs got their colors: soccer’s historic, iconic jerseys
However, Arsenal decided to enter the running later in the day amid fears that Kai Havertz could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury.
Sources said that Arsenal had, to that point, not followed up their initial interest for two reasons: It was tied in part to Ethan Nwaneri potentially leaving the club — the teenager has recently signed a new five-year deal — and the Gunners were prioritizing exits before pondering a deal for Eze after having committed almost £200 million on signings in this window.
However, Havertz missed an open training session at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday with sources later confirming the club is waiting on the results of further tests before determining the full extent of the problem.
Early indications suggest Havertz is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines as Arsenal have opted to reenter the market and accelerate negotiations with Eze.
The opportunity for Arsenal to act was also in part created by Palace’s reluctance to let Eze leave before Thursday’s Conference League playoff, first leg against Fredrikstad.
Eze, 27, was willing to join Spurs, but the midfielder, who has two years remaining on his contract, is a boyhood Arsenal fan and was previously thought to be open to joining the Gunners when they originally made their interest known.
Spurs are set to move on to other targets if Eze confirms his preference to join Arsenal, but it ranks as another disappointment in the market for Thomas Frank’s side after they missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White, who at one stage was on the brink of joining the club before opting to sign a new contract to stay at Nottingham Forest.
