Arsenal have agreed a £67.5m deal to sign Eberechi Eze after hijacking Tottenham Hotspur’s move for the Crystal Palace forward.
The Gunners will pay a guaranteed £60m plus £7.5m in add-ons for the forward, with personal terms now close to being totally agreed.
Eze’s release clause, worth £60m plus £8m in add-ons, expired before the Premier League season started.
Sky Sports News understands that he is still expected to be in the squad for Crystal Palace’s Conference League game on Thursday and wants to say his goodbyes to the fans.
Eze’s Arsenal medical could take place as soon as Friday.
Spurs felt they had an agreement in place with Palace and Eze on Wednesday before their north London rivals reignited their interest and swooped in following an injury to Kai Havertz.
Eze was one of a number of players Arsenal looked into in the first few weeks of the window, where, significantly, a lot of the work was carried out in June when they explored the conditions of a deal. Since then, their focus has been on other positions and player departures.
Spurs were considering offering Richarlison in a deal for Eze. That would have freed up striker space for them to try and sign Yoane Wissa, who played under Thomas Frank at Brentford. Wissa still wants to join Newcastle, who had a second bid rejected on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old, who started in Palace’s draw at Chelsea on Sunday, has two years left on his contract at Selhurst Park.
How battle for Eze unfolded
On Wednesday, Spurs felt they had an agreement with both Eze and Crystal Palace to sign the 27-year-old
Arsenal have a long-standing interest in Eze, who was previously on the books of their academy and has said he was a supporter of the club growing up.
They explored a potential deal earlier in the window, but chose not to pursue a deal at that stage as they prioritised strengthening other areas of the squad and agreeing new contracts with existing players.
Spurs then came in for Eze after Morgan Gibbs-White chose to sign a new contract at Nottingham Forest and they lost James Maddison to an ACL injury.
Talks were held between Tottenham and Palace, and Spurs felt they had an agreement in place on Wednesday with club and the player.
However, Arsenal then came in to hijack the deal in a major twist on Wednesday evening.
Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games this season
Watch Eberechi Eze’s best goals for Crystal Palace in the Premier League
This season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
