Arsenal announced the signing of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace on Saturday in a homecoming for the 27-year-old attacking midfielder who began his youth career at the North London club.

The signing of Eze, who can also play as a winger, not only bolsters their squad for a title charge but is also a coup for Arsenal with rivals Tottenham Hotspur heavily linked with him.

Financial details were not disclosed but British media said Arsenal paid around 68 million pounds to win the transfer tug-of-war and hand him the number 10 shirt.

“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,” manager Mikel Arteta said in a statement.

“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. “

Although Spurs were also negotiating a transfer to sign Eze, Arsenal swooped when German forward Kai Havertz was sidelined with a knee injury.

Signing Eze takes Arsenal’s close-season spend to over 260 million pounds after they also signed Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Cristhian Mosquera, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Eze had his best season with Palace in the 2024-25 campaign when he netted 14 times in all competitions and grabbed 11 assists, guiding the London club to their first major trophy when they lifted the FA Cup.

He was the hero in Palace’s cup run, scoring in the quarter-final and semi-final before netting the winner against Manchester City in the final to help Palace qualify for European competition for the first time in history.

Having made his senior debut with Queens Park Rangers, his 20 goals in the Championship earned him a 20 million pound move to Palace in 2020.

But Eze had always hoped to play for Arsenal, once revealing how being let go from the academy at the age of 13 left him in tears as it was the hardest thing he had been through.

Eze was introduced to the Arsenal fans before kickoff when they hosted promoted Leeds United in their first home game of the Premier League season on Saturday.