Arsenal’s summer transfer window was a resounding success, but one deal in particular had the club’s hierarchy thinking.
Mikel Arteta will be so grateful to Andrea Berta for delivering eight new players in his first summer as Arsenal’s sporting director.
Arsenal’s new signings have each made an impressive start to the campaign, adapting to the manager’s demands with ease.
As well as tending to the essential task of bolstering Arsenal’s squad depth, Berta got deals for several star names over the line, one of which was Eberechi Eze.
Arsenal weren’t sure about signing Eberechi Eze
The majority of Arsenal fans would say that Eze was one of the best deals of the summer, mainly because of how the transfer happened.
As Eze was about to join Tottenham, Berta took action, responding to Kai Havertz’s injury lay-off by hijacking the deal and bringing the playmaker to the Emirates.
Being a boyhood Arsenal fan, the deal was a dream come true for the 27-year-old, but it almost didn’t happen.
Speaking on the Beyond The Back Four podcast, transfer expert Graeme Bailey delved into what happened behind the scenes at Arsenal before Eze’s move was finalised.
“Eze was late. A reactionary one, really. They weren’t sure about doing that,” Bailey explained.
“Injuries almost, not forced them into it because they did a lot of work on Eze anyway, and he really wanted to come, but that was like the cherry on top of the cake for them, wasn’t it?”
Josh Kroenke had to get involved for Arsenal to sanction the purchase of Eze, as some within the club weren’t entirely sold on the idea of the Gunners spending over £60m on the forward at that stage of the window.
There will be no complaints now, as it’s already become so clear that Eze offers something completely different to Arteta’s midfield, something that could make the difference this season.
The decision to sign Eze looks even better now
It’s not only how good a player Eze is that has made the signing look like a triumph.
Arsenal have struggled with injuries early into the season, with Martin Odegaard set to be out until November with a knee ligament issue.
On top of that, Noni Madueke is out of action, leaving a vacancy on both the left side and centrally for Eze to fill.
Had Arsenal not signed Eze, the options would’ve been sufficient, but arguably not enough to bridge the gap to allow for the two attackers’ absences amid Champions League and Premier League action.
Any doubts that were had about signing Eze have evaporated, with the transfer fee already looking like a bargain, all things considered.
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