Arsenal are set to complete their seventh signing of the summer, with Eberechi Eze close to joining from Crystal Palace.
The Gunners have been extremely active in the transfer market, bolstering almost every position in Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Eze will become the latest Arsenal signing, with the North Londoners expected to pay £67.5 million for the England international’s services, bringing their summer spending past the £250 million mark.
Viktor Gyokeres has also arrived for £63 million as a marquee addition, and Arteta will hope the incoming Palace man and the Swede can strike up an effective partnership on the left-hand side of the Gunners’ attack.
Adrian Clarke says Bukayo Saka will get better because of Eberechi Eze
Eze underwent his Arsenal medical on Friday morning.
Given that the inbound star and Gyokeres will both predominantly operate on the left, the former could help maximise the latter’s output at Arsenal.
However, pundit Adrian Clarke thinks Eze will help unlock another player in Arteta’s squad.
Clarke believes Bukayo Saka, who has been described as ‘unbelievable’, will get even better with Eze in the Gunners’ side, with the 27-year-old’s presence on the left meaning teams cannot double up on Arsenal’s talisman.
“I think this will, of course, also help Saka,” Clarke said on his YouTube channel.
“That’s because, all of a sudden, teams that want to double mark Saka will now have to spread their resources, won’t they?”
“They’ve got him, they’ve got Gyokeres to worry about, and they’ve also got Eze to deal with on the left-hand side. So it’s going to spread those markers and plans for shackling the star man.
“How teams are able to cope with that, I’m fascinated to see, but it has to be good news for the Arsenal.”
Eberechi Eze could form a deadly partnership with Riccardo Calafiori
Aside from the forward players, Eze could also complement Riccardo Calafiori.
While Myles Lewis-Skelly represents the more stable defensive option to the Italian for the Gunners, Calafiori is the more adventurous and attacking left-back that Arteta has at his disposal.
With Eze inclined to drift inside and get on the ball centrally, space could be left open for Calafiori to exploit when the pair are deployed on the left for the Gunners.
The former Bologna man is exceptional at wandering into dangerous areas out wide and in the left channel, and Eze will be excellent at both vacating this space to create room for him and also at finding the player in these areas.
This is a potentially fruitful partnership that Arteta could call upon frequently against low blocks.
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