There is a precedent for Arsenal Pipping Noord -London Tottenham to the signature of a transfer target at the 11th hour, because they want to get a £ 68 million coup for Ebereechi Eze
Arsenal's brutal hijacking of the Tottenham movement of Ebereechi Eze is not the first time that the Gunners have signed a player, just as they were about to join their bitter rivals. The side of Mikel Arteta will sign the 27-year-old from Crystal Palace after it appeared that they had agreed at both club and player on Wednesday evening.
The breakthrough came as a surprise, given that the neighbors of North Londs were about to sign Eze. But those who were close to the midfielder of England knew that his heart was really completed on Arsenal.
Eze supported the Gunners as a boy and was released from their academy at the age of 13, leaving him 'roar'. Arsenal will now want to complete his transfer of £ 68 million in the coming days, after initially held reservations about the deal because of the rise of Academy Starlet Ethan Nwaneri.
But Kai Havertz's recent injury eventually influenced them to possibly pursue their seventh signing of the summer.
Eze's dramatic U-turn, exchanges N17 for N5, is of course not a first. Many will remember the shock movement of Sol Campbell as a free agent in 2001. But another Gunners -legend, Emmanuel Petit, accelerates traces for Arsenal in a way more related to Eze's Transfer Saga.
Spurs famous paid the Frenchman's taxi dish on the way to sign for Arsenal. And thinking about the late change of heart in 2018, Petit told Mirror Football: “Tottenham put the contract on the table for me, I needed a few days to think about it, but they did not expect what happened next.”
The midfielder visited London in 1997 to talk to Spurs chairman Sir Alan Sugar about a possible relocation of Monaco. Arsenal discovered the meeting and quickly sent a message to the midfielder to sign nothing until he had heard the pitch of Arsene Wenger about the new project he was building.
Petit, who had played under Wenger in Monaco, asked Sugar to knock things back in his own hotel, where Spurs paid the taxi to take him there. But the Frenchman distracted the cabin to Wenger's house, where he also met vice-chairman David Dein.
The future World Cup winner wanted to compete to fight titles instead of fighting the relegation. Petit later remembered talking: “I had meetings on the same day with Tottenham and Arsenal and had a meeting with Tottenham in the morning, but when I came to England, I didn't know about the rivalry between the two clubs.
“When I left the Spurs Stadium, they booked me a taxi and the taxi driver asked me for a route description, so I gave him the Arsenal address and I did not realize that the cabin was paid by Spurs in advance, so they knew where I went!
“I had told Spurs that I needed time to think about it, but knew that I had to see Arsenal, as well as other clubs in Italy and Spain. I told everyone that I would decide and when I knew the answer, I would give it, but after a few days I signed for Arsenal and it went in newspapers and suddenly the story came.”
Petit added in 2018: “It is now part of the legend. David Dein still likes that story – and [more than] 20 years later he still tells it! “
He did not look back on his decision and formed a formidable midfield axis with France teammate Patrick Vieira, which resulted in the pony-tail-haired star who won a competition and cup doubles in his first season.
After the success of the 1997/98 campaign, Petit spent two less successful years in North Londs before he came to Barcelona and later Chelsea.
Eze will hope that his daring decision will pick similar benefits because he wants to add the missing creative spark to Arteta's side, whereby the Gunners hope to get into line after three consecutive years of the second one.