Arsenal call to hijack Eze transfer adds final insult to rivals Tottenham

Arsenal have swooped in at the eleventh hour to seal a deal for Eberechi Eze, beating Tottenham to his signature after they had agreed the framework of a deal with Crystal Palace

Arsenal were able to swoop in at the eleventh hour to seal a deal for Eberechi Eze - who had looked destined for a move to Tottenham before their efforts aided their rivals.

The Crystal Palace winger had been tipped to leave Selhurst Park this summer and those on the white side of north London were in pole position, before a late call from Arsenal changed Eze's direction of travel.

Those at the Emirates knew they had an emotional pull. The England international is a boyhood Arsenal fan and they were able to use the framework that had been negotiated by Tottenham to swoop in and offer the necessary fee, reports The Times.

Tottenham had fully agreed personal terms with the 27-year-old and struck an agreement with Palace over the fee on Wednesday morning. The deal wasn't completed because Oliver Glasner maintained that he wanted Eze to play in the first leg of their Conference League qualifier against Fredrikstad on Thursday night - although that situation never materialised.

On Wednesday afternoon Arsenal’s executive vice-chairman, Tim Lewis, made the call to the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, which set the wheels in motion for the Gunners to ultimately win the race.

Kai Havertz’s knee injury proved to be a pivotal moment as it ignited Arsenal's desire to add another attacking option. Despite already landing Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres Mikel Arteta was still keen to bring in even more firepower and had a long standing interest Eze.

His decision to head to the Emirates in a deal worth £67.5million is another blow to Tottenham's summer recruitment under Thomas Frank, who has just taken charge at the club. They signed Mohamed Kudus from West Ham, but since have continued to miss out on the major names they've chosen to pursue.

They were in for Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White, who enjoyed a standout campaign last term. Tottenham met the player's release clause but the winger then chose to pen a new deal at the City Ground, leaving Frank and co to look elsewhere in the market.

James Maddison suffered an ACL injury in early August, effectively ruling him out for the season, which has furthered Tottenham's need to bring in more attacking flair.