EZE as 1, 2, 3

This feels like a different Arsenal. We have made good signings this summer, in my opinion, many of which I give Andrea Berta credit for, because they feel like more aggressive decisions that Edu would not have made in the past. So, when news broke that Kai Havertz suffered a knee injury (still being assessed at the time of writing), I wondered what Berta would do next. Everything coming from the club was that at this stage of the window, with less than two weeks to go, the club was focused on player sales, and any additions would need to be secondary. However, we know how highly Arteta rates Havertz, how instrumental he believes he can be in helping us achieve our goals, so I couldn't help but feel like the injury provided us with an opportunity to address what I already thought was a need, which was to add more attacking options to the squad.

Well, what was once a seemingly secondary priority clearly became a primary one, because within 5 hours of learning about Havertz's injury, Arsenal have signed Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace for a fee in the region of £60M, in what was the fastest signing I have ever experienced as an Arsenal fan. Of course, we learned through reports at the time that Berta and Arteta met with Eze in July to pitch him the idea of joining Arsenal, and, as an Arsenal fan himself, having once been in our academy, he was already sold on rejoining the club. Fast forward a month, and reports were that Tottenham, of all teams, were on the verge of signing him. That would have stung A LOT. It felt like allowing Eze to go to our rivals, especially when his preference to come to us would be such a kick in the teeth after Berta had done so much good work this summer. Fortunately, it never came to that, and Tottenham have been put in their place and are left reeling.

The Havertz injury has allowed Arsenal to gain a forward who essentially addresses most of the attributes the team was lacking. A summary below;

• He can play across the front five as an attacking midfielder, winger, or false 9,

• He is a ball carrier, which we severely lack,

• He can beat players 1 v1,

• He's a volume shooter that can shoot from distance,

• He can create for others & play ball through the final third to a striker,

• He's a right-footer (a rare sighting in this squad),

• He scores free kicks.

Basically, he brings what I believe Nwaneri can bring to the squad, but with more experience at 27 years old. I think his arrival will help a lot of players, including Nwaneri, as an example of a similarly aggressive player to learn from and mold his game after. There is literally nothing to not like about this signing. Eze is an Arsenal player. It just sounds right, and feels even sweeter because Tottenham fans genuinely thought they had him.

In the end, no matter what any other club offered, once Arsenal came knocking, it was Eze as 1, 2, 3 for him to come home.