Arsenal completed a blockbuster move for Eberechi Eze for £68 million on Saturday evening.
The England international became the Gunners’ seventh signing of the summer, joining the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi in N5.
Eze is in line for his Arsenal debut at Anfield on Sunday, and he’ll be expected to compete for a place on the left wing, where Mikel Arteta now has a host of options.
The former Crystal Palace man’s England teammate Noni Madueke also signed for £52 million this summer, and will be one of those directly fighting with the new man for a place in the North Londoners’ starting eleven.
Noni Madueke says Eberechi Eze will do ‘fantastically well’ at Arsenal
Arsenal are growing an English core at the heart of their squad once again.
After losing academy graduates Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah in recent years, as well as Aaron Ramsdale, the Gunners’ ensemble had become somewhat light on homegrown talent.
Now, however, there could be upwards of six or seven players in Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad next summer.
The likes of Eze, Madueke, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White and even Ethan Nwaneri will all be in contention to feature for the Three Lions in North America.
That said, with Eze and Madueke directly competing for a spot on Arsenal’s left wing, only one may garner the minutes required to attract enough attention from Tuchel to be named in his squad.
Despite this competition, Madueke waxed lyrical about Arsenal’s newest signing on the BBC’s 606 phone-in show.
“Yeah, no, competition is great,” Madueke said.
“I think if you want to do something special or something you need [competition] and yeah. But on another note, yeah, it’s great to have him [Eze] here.
“He’s a great person and an even better player. So he’s going to do fantastically well, I’m sure.”
Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze should both start against Liverpool
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard both suffered injuries in Arsenal’s win over Leeds on Saturday.
Saka went down clutching his hamstring early in the second half, while Odegaard appeared to sustain a shoulder problem.
While it’s not yet been confirmed, it would appear unlikely that either player will be fit enough to play for the Gunners at Anfield.
This will be a huge blow to Arteta, although their absences will open opportunities for some other players to feature.
Both Eze and Madueke should be in serious contention to be named in the starting eleven on Merseyside.
The latter should be a shoo-in to replace Saka on the right, given this is the primary reason he was bought, while the former could either start in place of Odegaard or on Arsenal’s left wing instead of Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard.
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