Eberechi Eze’s return to Arsenal would be a romantic twist in their summer story

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Arsenal’s affection for seeing boys created at Hale End flourishing in their first team is well known. This one has the capacity to hit a little differently. All summer long, the club and Eberechi Eze, once of their youth team, have been wondering about each other, hearts fluttering at the idea of a possible reunion.

Suddenly, just when glum resignation was setting in that it would never happen, Arsenal have had a moment of clarity. It has to be now. It can’t be never. It has to be Arsenal. It can’t be Tottenham Hotspur. This one is certainly loaded.

Football is full of strange turns. The fates of others can impact your own path.

This development was triggered by the desperately unfortunate injury to Kai Havertz just one game into the new season. It is such a cruel blow for the German, but one that prompted Arsenal to hurry towards Eze before it was too late.

When Havertz was stricken in January, Arsenal hesitated and decided to bide their time. Evidently, they do not want to make the same mistake again. Even though they are much better stocked than they were during last winter’s dearth of attackers, the Eze factor is just too compelling to pass by.

Anecdotally, so much of the discourse around possible targets throughout this window has had the Crystal Palace maverick as the supporters’ signing of choice. He is the romantic deal — a prodigal son with Arsenal roots, a free spirit of a player with immense likability and the capacity to bring a swashbuckling creativity that feels like it has been missing in the squad’s make-up.

Havertz has picked up an injury (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

It is impossible not to summon the spirit of Ian Wright here. Many moons ago, Arsenal raided Palace for one of their most beloved players. Wright, like Eze, experienced some rejection in the early days, which fuelled the way he played. It was like he always wanted to make a difference. Wright, like Eze, made a great name for himself at Selhurst Park before securing a special kind of move at the age of 27. Prime time, with so much desire for more on a new stage.

Wright, as Eze hopes to imminently do, trod the now legendary path from south London to Arsenal. He has London spirit. London energy. London style. His personality, as well as his ability, is a big part of the attraction, and the connections he already shares with England team-mates at Arsenal ensure he would be welcomed with open arms.

When Wright signed for Arsenal, he was so excited he did not even look at the contract and just burst into the office and burbled, ‘Where do I sign?’ Deals are slightly more complex these days, but Arsenal have an agreement in principle with Crystal Palace and are close to finalising personal terms with Eze. It is no secret that Eze’s heart is set on rejoining the club he learned to love as a little boy in the academy.

For Arsenal fans, if this deal comes at the expense of Tottenham, who had put themselves in the driving seat to sign Eze, that’s the last-minute top corner finish on top of winning the ball back.

It has been an absurd 24 hours on planet Arsenal. Having digested the weird win at Old Trafford, which lacked attacking fluency and verve, there was already some twitchiness about the front section of the team. Never mind waiting six matches or so to make a judgment, but here we are.

Leandro Trossard’s contract boost was interpreted in critical quarters as a sign that there would be no shiny new left winger on the horizon. Hours later, the news of Havertz’s injury was a harbinger of ominous doom.

What if Viktor Gyokeres doesn’t get up to speed quickly? Who will share the load? Is there enough attacking imagination? What is the ratio of decent options at left wing to one dazzling game-changer?

Eze could be a game-changer for Arsenal (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

One name has changed the landscape in a heartbeat. There is a considerable expectation that Eze can turn up and rock Arsenal’s world, which is a lot to take on. He will be tasked with bringing flair and fire, and a taste for the unpredictable. The fact that he can operate across the front section of the team gives different opportunities for new combinations and roles.

Arsenal’s keenness on Eze was always there. But there was a touch of pragmatism when they stepped back, both because they regarded him as more of a central player than a left-wing point of upgrade, and also because they were wary of blocking game time for Ethan Nwaneri.

The Havertz injury clearly threw their carefully considered plans out the window. Whether Eze can replicate some of his work as a centre-forward is up for debate, but at this stage it was more about a highest possible ceiling of attacking quality, in addition to the group that currently includes Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Trossard and Nwaneri — not forgetting stand-in No 9 Mikel Merino.

If Eze does end up back in a cannoned shirt, it will be one hell of a romantic twist in Arsenal’s summer story.

(Top photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

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