Tottenham are looking to move fast in the race to sign Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze in order to beat Arsenal to the signing, according to reports.
Spurs are looking to bring in an attacking midfielder urgently after England international James Maddison picked up a serious ACL injury in pre-season.
After making loan deals for Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel permanent this summer, Tottenham have also added Mohammed Kudus, Luka Vuskovic, Joao Palhinha and Kota Takai to their squad.
Serious interest from Tottenham in Eze has emerged in recent days after it had seemed that Arsenal would almost definitely tie up a move for the England international later in the transfer window.
And now transfer journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that Tottenham are ‘set to place an opening bid’ for Eze in order to get ahead of Arsenal for the 27-year-old.
Jacobs wrote on X: ‘Spurs set to place an opening bid for Eberechi Eze. – Tottenham moving fast to avoid Arsenal counter. – Optimism Eze prepared to join with personal terms not a problem. – New push for Eze after James Maddison’s ACL.’
The journalist later produced more details for talkSPORT with Jacobs insisting that there is now ‘some hesitation within’ Arsenal about pursuing a move for Eze.
Jacobs added: ‘Arsenal also hold an interest in Eze, and a late window move can’t be discounted. However, the desire to give Ethan Nwaneri minutes at No.10 this season has led to some hesitation within the club as to whether to add another central attacker.
‘Arsenal are also focused on outgoings. They could look to bring in another left-winger instead if Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli depart. Both players could well remain, but Trossard is the more likely of the pair to leave should any exit materialise.’
Former Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre insists that Eze should snub interest from the Gunners in order to make sure he is playing regularly.
Silvestre said: “Eberechi Eze to Arsenal? I don’t think it’d be good for him, to be honest, because there is a lot of competition and because he has so much joy and freedom at Crystal Palace.
“Going to Arsenal would, I think, be difficult because of the competition for places. But I like him a lot. Since his early days, he has been terrific. It’s a shame he’s had quite a lot of muscle injuries and he’s missed some parts of the season. But whenever he’s fit and ready, he is a top player.”