Arsenal’s interest in Crystal Palace winger Eberechi Eze has been well established, with Mikel Arteta’s side ready to move for the 27-year-old.
FootballTransfers exclusively broke the news that the Gunners have turned their attentions towards Eze after cooling their interest in Real Madrid winger Rodrygo.
Sky Sports report that their move for the England star is “independent” to their hunt for other attacking players, with a winger, striker and No.10 all on Arteta’s shopping list for the summer.
As such, the North London side are seeking favourable terms on a transfer, even if that means paying more than the release fee.
Arsenal’s Eze transfer plan explained
Transfer expert Dharmesh Sheth explained on Sky Sports News: “It is a release clause situation we’ve got here. It’s £60m, we think, which could rise to £68m. It’s easy for a club to say: ‘Yes, we’ll meet that release clause,’ and the selling club can’t do much about that.
“Sometimes you can get a situation with a release clause when a club wants to negotiate on that. In this case, if Arsenal were to do that, they would have to approach Crystal Palace.
“That’s not necessarily lower than the release clause. The £60+8m is something that would almost be guaranteed to Crystal Palace.
“If Arsenal offered £70-75m, for argument’s sake… People will ask why they would do that? It could be in exchange for favourable payment terms. You might need to pay the release clause in three instalments, for example, but if Arsenal say to Crystal Palace that they’ll pay a bit more in four instalments. We know everyone is looking at FFP, which is done on a three-year rolling basis.
“We’re a long way from Arsenal discussing personal terms, but it’s clear that Eberechi Eze is a player of interest for them.”
Eze, whose Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is €62.7m was earlier linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, but his focus now appears to be on Arsenal.
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