Scouting Eberechi Eze
A detailed profile of the popular arrival, examining his strengths, subtle nuances, creativity, tactical/positional usage, and how his ideas might transform Arsenal’s attack
“My Dear Lucy: I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
— C.S. Lewis, letter to goddaughter
Some ideas are absurd until they hit the back of the net.
Paul Graham, the technologist and essayist, once wrote about which ideas deserve the most attention.
If someone I knew to be both a domain expert and a reasonable person proposed an idea that sounded preposterous, I’d be very reluctant to say “that will never work.”
Most implausible-sounding ideas are in fact bad and could be safely dismissed. But not when they’re proposed by reasonable domain experts. If the person proposing the idea is reasonable, then they know how implausible it sounds. And yet they’re proposing it anyway. That suggests they know something you don’t. And if they have deep domain expertise, that’s probably the source of it. Such ideas are not merely unsafe to dismiss, but disproportionately likely to be interesting.
There are logical reasons why so many such ideas get written off.
The reason is that everyone is too conservative. The word “paradigm” is overused, but this is a case where it's warranted. Everyone is too much in the grip of the current paradigm … It doesn't just affect the way we think; it is the Lego blocks we build thoughts out of. Popping out of the current paradigm is something only a few people can do.
There’s a reason why everyone subscribes to the current (ugh) paradigm: if you’re not very good at what you do, you’re likely to get burned.
So these are the ingredients to this kind of idea: high-level expertise, proven “reasonableness,” and preposterousness. In football, that’s Kevin de Bruyne attempting passes that look inadvisable until they’re not. It’s Trent Alexander-Arnold bending the geometry of the game. Increasingly, it’s Lamine Yamal, who tries things that would be dismissed outright if attempted by lesser players. We should be reluctant to tell such players “that will never work.”
At his best, you see it in Eberechi Eze. Mikel Arteta said he expects his new signings “to add these individual actions, magic moments, and that’s what we need to win games.” Off the pitch, Eze comes across as seriously grounded and level-headed: watch any interview and it’s obvious why he’s one of the most well-liked players in the game. That humility carries into his football, too, where his play is marked by control and effortless composure.
But his style of play also carries a streak of rebel defiance. He has ideas, sometimes so-called preposterous ones, and he isn’t afraid to propose them.
He’s introspective about that, too.
“Why do I run with the ball? Why do I try things? Why am I creative? Why do I do things that maybe players wouldn’t think to do?” he told BBC Sport. “The reason is for the people who are watching. It’s what you’re doing to people in the stands and how you can get people off their feet. That’s what football’s about.”
Last week, he had been unbelievably close to signing for Tottenham. The outlines of a deal were all but agreed. From an outsider’s point of view, it would have been an eminently “reasonable” move. But before committing, he had another one of his ideas: he picked up the phone and called Mikel Arteta, the manager of the club that he loves, the club that once left him in tears, the keepers of that childhood dream, to ask if he was old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
Eze’s career was forged on a winding road.
In 2021, he learned he’d been named to England’s provisional Euros squad. The problem was that the message from Gareth Southgate arrived just minutes after being carried off Palace’s training ground with a ruptured Achilles.
It was only the latest setback, after being released by Arsenal, Fulham, Reading, and Millwall before he even turned 18. The explanations were opaque, as they often are.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t fully understand the reasons why … but I don’t look back and think I didn’t deserve that,” he said later. “They are making calls all the time and they are going to get some wrong.”
One coach remembered the player those clubs passed over:
“He wasn’t particularly quick or strong. That allowed him to concentrate on his technique and get out of trouble with his passing and movement. Young players who aren’t physically ready at that age learn different ways to survive.”
That period, when he had to solve problems with cleverness before he had power, shaped the player he became. The so-called weaknesses hardened him: he rebuilt himself into someone who solved problems with ideas first, and added the physicality later. It’s a reminder when we evaluate others: we are neuroplastic. The very weakness you identify today may be creating superpowers tomorrow.
It’s fitting that Eze, a chess devotee, once said:
“In the game, I would say I’m a knight. As a player, I would say I’m a passed pawn that has become a queen.”
Queens Park Rangers gave him a lifeline at 18. A loan to Wycombe toughened him, and when he came back to the Championship, he was no longer surviving; he was thriving.
“He was a brilliant player before he went, but when he came back he was just a different animal,” said his QPR teammate Joel Lynch. “It was just mad. I don't know what happened to him, but when he came back he was unbelievable, just a completely different player. Every bit of his game was better. He literally came back our best player. He was miles above the rest really.”
By 2020, Crystal Palace paid roughly £17m to bring him to the Premier League. Roy Hodgson praised his character, and quickly made him central: “He is an ambitious and dedicated young man whose future looks extremely bright. I am delighted that it will be with us.”
The Achilles rupture was “the biggest test” of his career, but he attacked it with the same creativity he shows on the pitch. Inspired by a Russian gymnast’s miraculous recovery, he was back in full training in four and a half months. Hodgson said he had been “very impressed by his resilience and mental approach. He will recover and will recover faster than is normally possible to recover.”
Patrick Vieira experimented with him deeper, and then Hodgson returned in 2023 to hand him full licence. Eze bloomed again, scoring six goals in ten games, earning his long-delayed England debut. Praising the “insane wisdom” of Hodgson, he also praised himself: “I have worked hard. No one has done me any favours as I deserve to be here.”
From operating rooms to the Euros. From rejection slips to England call-ups. From “not big or fast enough” to Palace’s talisman. His career is a lesson in what Graham wrote about ideas: undervalued at first, subjected to the stricter filters of a discerning person, but once proposed and tested, “disproportionately likely to be interesting.”
Joel Lynch, that old QPR teammate of his, said he would walk up to Eze before games, while high fives were cascading around, and say: “mate, score a couple now so we can all go home. Just win us the game, please.” As he explained: “He was that good.”
Eze said that he plays the way he does “for the people watching.”
Now, years later, he still has a fan in Lynch.
“The only time I watch the Premier League now is to watch him play,” he said.
People are watching, Ebere.
📖 Player overview
Onto the scouting report. Let’s start, as we usually do, with the physical makeup.
➡️ Physical qualities
I think that Wyscout report above is a little outdated. Eze is reportedly 5’10” (178 cm) and 67kg (148lbs); the source I tend to trust most for physical measurements is FIFA, and I’m not taking further questions. He is not an overwhelming athlete, but the reality is, as always, more interesting and nuanced than that.
His stay at Hale End may have been briefer than he’d hoped, but he looks every bit the part. Players coming through these days (especially Saka, Lewis-Skelly, and Dowman) are excellent at the art of balance and hand-checking, winning the fight before the fight is even on, and Eze will fit right in.
That clip with one of the Premier League’s chirpiest defenders shows how much of a modern duel is about hand-fighting. A lot of what gets described as balance or strength is really just technique: how you set your base, when you initiate contact, how you use your backside.
This shielding regularly stands out. He does not get muscled off easily and is happy to take contact, inviting defenders in before spinning away or slipping a pass. This makes him a reliable outlet under pressure and a big reason why he thrives in central areas crowded with traffic.
It is not all technique. Eze has huge quads and excellent balance and core strength, which let him ride challenges and stay on his feet through tackles. He can get rugby-tackled at the edge of the box, but often tries to push through potential fouls rather than looking for a whistle.
Eze is quick but not necessarily fast. He is not going to burn Premier League full-backs on raw pace, provided they start at the same time. He is almost the opposite of Gyökeres, who is bulky and reaches top speed over longer distances. Eze hits his top gear quickly, but will not make the radar gun puff with smoke. He does often gain a step early, refusing to cede the advantage later in the run.
There are layers here. He is very easy on the eye when running with the ball.
He glides across the pitch and looks comfortable in any zone. There are plenty of players who are sprinter-fast but have to slow down to keep control. Eze does not have that problem; the speed gap between his dribbling and running without the ball is nonexistent, and Lynch said it looked “almost like he ran quicker with the ball than without it.” His agility (meaning: feints, deception, changes of direction) is top-level.
His burst also means he can get separation with a strong first step. That shows up well if you look at him against the Mo Salah metric.
He’s clean with his quick skill moves and, while still definitely right-footed, is comfortable enough on his left, particularly with looped crosses and finishes.
His stamina is good if not superlative. While his play doesn’t visibly drop off during the course of the game, he doesn’t strike me as the most robustly intense player; he’s a bit more discretionary, and finished only 13 of his 31 starts last year. He’s engaged without being a fully tireless presser, but fit enough to carry the creative burden for 90 minutes. He shows fair-to-average physicality in defensive duels and is maybe a little tackle-happy.
Overall, while Eze isn’t a raw speedster or brute-force athlete, he’s more than equipped to handle physical battles with anyone. And post-Achilles injury, he appears to have fully regained his athleticism; there’s no visible drop-off in his mobility or explosiveness since the 2021 rupture. Dribblers don’t always age as well as other archetypes, but Eze isn’t a pace merchant, so it may be less of a worry than it is for other players.
Eze has some limitations, but his mix of balance, shielding, strength, technique, and explosive first steps makes him a durable, hard-to-dislodge attacker. And his side-to-side agility is really something.
📊 Statistical background
This percentile wheel is a clean, if simplistic, way to sketch Eze’s statistical identity. Immediately, you see how weighted he is toward shot generation and dribbling: 82nd percentile for npxG, 94th percentile for shots, 90th percentile for successful take-ons, and 89th percentile for shot-creating actions.
The grayer notes are there, too: his carries, and carries into the pen, are actually both lower than you may expect; the goals underachieved the xG, and the defensive statistics are low considering he played on a lower-possession side. Some of his live-ball stuff is lower than you’d hope because he has such responsibility in dead-ball situations.
That was a “shape of the player” illustration: high responsibility attacker, tilted toward self-created shots, with complementary but not elite creation numbers.
Next, let’s compare.
That chart gives the context of how Eze’s output stacks up to contemporaries like Barcola, Leão, and Simons. You’ll notice the “hybrid wingers” fare worse on these, because they’re in more congested spaces, where it’s more difficult to receive. Basically, they get fewer easy touches.
You’ll notice the lack of green. The key secondary note is balance: he’s not leading any single column, but he sits in the top third for nearly everything: shots (3.04), dribbles (4.76), key passes (0.63), and progressive runs (3.95). Unlike Madueke (elite dribbling volume, thin creation), or Gordon (strong runs into the box, but weaker creative outputs), Eze’s spread is wide. He’s not an outlier in an area or two, but a broadly-skilled, flexible performer.
At 3.26 shots per 90 (96th percentile), he’s taking volume like a striker rather than his spot as a wingfielder. His xG per shot is low (0.08, 39th percentile), which confirms what the eye test shows: he often takes difficult or speculative efforts. But other attributes are there: he ranks 84th percentile in overall xG, 81st in fouls won, and 76th in open-play xG assisted. Even if the shot selection can be erratic, the pressure he puts on defenders translates into territory and set-piece wins. The radar also shows the relative weakness in turnovers (3rd percentile), a reminder of the risks that come.
When going through his fbref.com profile from last year, there are some interesting takeaways, too. Comparing him to Ødegaard, Saka, Madueke, Martinelli, then throwing in Cole Palmer as an external comp:
Eze has the fewest touches in the attacking third (20.7/90); Saka, for example, averaged 17 more per 90.
Eze has the most attempted take-ons (4.79/90), and the highest success rate (48.6%).
All Arsenal players had more progressive passes received; Saka, Madueke, and Martinelli had more than double.
Eze had the lowest progressive carry distance (82.6 yards/90), fewest carries into the pen (0.76), and fewest passes into the pen (1.35/90).
Eze had the most recoveries (5.07/90).
We can also look at it in raw numbers: Crystal Palace touched the ball 3,667 fewer times than Arsenal last year.
This goes a long way to demonstrate how different his role will inevitably be at Arsenal. If nothing else, he’ll be getting the ball a lot more in advanced areas.
There’s a lot of good stuff here, but I do have questions about the low volume of box entries via pass and carry. As easy as it’d be to turn this into a puff piece, we should retain our open eyes. This statistical profile is more “8.1/10” than “10/10.”
🏋🏽♂️ Role & playing experience
At Crystal Palace, his role has evolved under different managers. Under Roy Hodgson (in Eze’s first Premier League season, 2020/21), he was frequently used off the left flank in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, essentially a left attacking mid who would cut inside. He immediately showed he could translate his game up a level, scoring 4 goals and 6 assists that debut year.
Patrick Vieira’s arrival saw Eze tried in various attacking midfield capacities, sometimes as one of the #8s in a 4-3-3, other times as a wide playmaker off the left. That Achilles injury in May 2021 set him back, and he missed a big chunk of 2021/22. On return, it took a bit to find rhythm, and Vieira eased him in.
By late 2022 and into 2023, we really saw Eze flourish when deployed centrally. When Hodgson returned in 2023, much of Palace’s attack revolved around Eze, often in a 4-2-3-1 or a fluid 4-3-3 where Eze had license to roam as the primary creator. In that role, Eze thrived, drifting between the lines, popping up across the pitch to receive and turn. He wasn’t shackled to a narrow set of responsibilities; he could go find the game.
Eze has certainly played as a traditional winger at times. But in Glasner’s setup, it’s reductive to call him either a winger or a pure attacking midfielder. In truth, he was something in between, a role that’s not uncommon these days: let’s call it a “wingfielder.”
He often receives wide in deeper areas, often on regains, and then drifts centrally as play progresses.
Here, against Newcastle, you can see him looking to exploit the space between the lines as Mitchell receives, starting in the 10 pocket and bursting wide into the wing.
And again, you get a feel for the role: Mitchell holds the width, while Eze has the freedom to run in behind, drop in to receive, or drift wide when the play calls for it.
In the press, he operated as part of a front three. The block was relatively relaxed and not built to regain and dominate possession immediately, but it could turn up the intensity against certain sides, like here, against his old mates at QPR, when the qualitative gap was obvious.
In the block, it was a 5-4-1. His role most closely resembled Martinelli’s at LW in Arsenal’s current 4-4-2, but a little less taxing, simply because there were five instead of four in the back line. That gave him license to cheat a bit more and double a bit less, though he still worked pretty hard in what was overall a more defensive side.
This touchmap from Opta gives you a sense of where he’s been used.
But that’s not his only usage.
I take back anything negative I’ve ever said about international breaks. They’ve been invaluable for these scouting reports, letting us envisage players across roles and responsibilities. That was the case with Eze recently. Tuchel, a sharp profiler of players, used him out on the left as a more typical left-winger, surrounded by some familiar faces. England, of course, have a glut at #10.
This is why it’s always important to look past a player’s current responsibilities. Rigidly defining players by “position” is artificially limiting. Roles change from team to team; a previous coach may have misunderstood or misused them; players themselves aren’t one thing. They can be many.
Strip it down, and Eze has most of the tools you’d want in a traditional wide winger: strong 1v1, two-footed enough to cross with both feet, high-level dribbler, clever with tempo shifts, and able to get a shot off. The shortcomings are there, too: he’s not a burner in terms of pure pace, and he has a clear tendency to cut inside. But that points you toward “he’s better used inside” rather than “he can’t play outside.”
And in practice, that role tends to be flexible anyway, with the freedom to drift in or out as needed.
He also had a fascinating cameo at the Euros. It feels like a fever dream now, but he really did come on to replace Bukayo Saka at left-back. Then, he played a part in the winning goal against Slovakia.
(Another left-back, in other words.)
All that to say: Eze’s experience has helped shape him into a flexible, savvy attacker. He’s accustomed to being given real creative responsibility, he’s played under pragmatic and progressive coaches alike, and he’s proven he can adapt his game, whether that’s starting wider or more central.
🧠 Game temperament
Everybody loves Eberechi Eze.
“The way he carries himself is perfect,” said Lynch. “If any young lad coming through the game wants to look at a player it would be him, he’s the prime example of how to be a professional. He’s a class act.”
One would be hard-pressed to find a player with more enthusiastic character references than him. Among those admirers was Declan Rice, who “constantly” spoke glowingly about Eze to Arteta, who later “fell in love” with Eze’s commitment.
Eze, for his part, traces his playing character back to the cages.
“I was playing cage football for a long time,” he says. “Even in academies whilst I was training, I would still go back to the cages and play with friends. That’s where football is most enjoyable, and it’s probably where I learned most of how I play as well. It’s a big part of me, definitely.”
“Ball control, being able to run past players, handling the ball in tight spaces, being able to get knocked by bigger players and getting up. It’s literally doing what you can to be as effective as you can be in harsh circumstances. For sure, that’s built me and helped me become the player I am today.”
He’s extremely intelligent, and the chess match analogies will proliferate. He’s always looking to manipulate and outsmart defenders.
Any description of his play wouldn’t be complete without “joy” coming up quickly. He plays with a lightness about him: light on his feet, calm in the storm, rarely rattled, no matter the context. There were reports that he previously would tighten up in big games. Nowadays, even with a trophy on the line, he has that carefree swagger. It’s interesting to see that unique combination of “carefree” and “cares so much.”
And that is how you score the biggest goal in Palace history.
That expression often takes the form of audacity: a nutmeg in traffic, a no-look pass on the edge of the box, a spurious long blast. He has risk tolerance. Remember what we were saying about preposterousness coming from an eminently reasonable person.
Here’s one of the best clips from the whole thing, for my money.
That willingness to keep going is exactly what Arsenal fans may want, and have lacked: someone who will keep searching for the killer dribble or pass, even if a few don’t land. The tradeoff is obvious, too. Sometimes it doesn’t pay off, and those cold spells can look like inconsistency. And it is undeniably true: his production can be bouncy from month to month.
Usually, the upside is worth it. Mentally, he’s proven to be awfully resilient. That ruptured Achilles at 22 could’ve broken him, but he came back without fear, seemingly stronger. As a communicator, he’s not the ranting, arm-waving type, but his personality has matured into leadership by example. When Palace stall, he’s the one who takes responsibility to make something happen, and often looks his best against sides like Arsenal, Man City, and Liverpool.
Defensively, he’s been generally engaged, and fairly physical in the defensive duel, but with some limits. I wouldn’t describe him as particularly intense, and he rarely crosses the line. He’s only had 11 total yellow cards in his Premier League career, good for 2.2 per season. He has no reds as a professional.
Overall, Eze’s playing temperament is equal parts confidence, creativity, and composure. He’s expressive, risk-tolerant, and joyful. The quote-unquote inconsistency is real and worth acknowledging: he can definitely run hot and cold through the year. But perhaps that’s the price of admission for someone who can change the temperature of a game with one idea.
🧾 My priors + showing my work
I always like to discuss priors up front.
My top 2-3 priorities for the summer didn’t include a striker:
A midfielder who can enhance and balance the build-up (see: Zubimendi), providing readier advantages to the final-third players
One or two dynamic, swashbuckling, give-me-the-fucking-ball attacking forces (ideally helping on the left)
…and before last summer, my priorities were as follows:
Improve Plan B through the left
Increase risk tolerance in the middle
Boost team speed
Add ball-striking
A few more big passes
Here was the recap of last summer, which contains some foreshadowing for today.
Last summer, I was broadly supportive of the Calafiori and Merino signings when considered individually — though questions about Calafiori’s new position, tougher league, and heavier load were (and still are) valid given the injury risk. But I thought something was missing. An oversimplified version of my take: “My issue wasn’t Calafiori + Merino. It’s that it wasn’t Calafiori + Merino + Eze.”
Here was a simpler message from me last June:
You, me, everybody can talk through the intricacies of the attacking profile to target and all that (and we should). But we all know that if Eze actually happened, every last one of us is saying “fuuuuck yes.”
Before that, he was #2 after Nico Williams in the BALLER rankings.
I find Eze to be one of the easier-to-appreciate players in the world. I’ve seen people beat Declan Rice before, but I’m not sure I’ve seen others confuse him on the tackle. Eze had him late-lunging all over the place.
When we go through the list of ways for Arsenal to improve, Eze is additive to a lot of them. He has a high degree of risk tolerance (and skill) through the middle, can be a dangerous dribbler (riding challenges easily) or a retentive one, and has all kinds of ideas that can unsettle a block. He’s great at creating shots for himself (3.59 shots/90), has a good swing, and will be able to start in 3-4 positions across the frontline and you’d be happy every time you see him the sheet. There are no indications that he wouldn’t succeed under the Champions League lights.
He was Arsenal and he still feels Arsenal.
I then also laid out some of the headwinds to a deal last season:
The issue with Eze is actually hinted at in that interview with Lynch, when he said this about the attacker: “It was almost like he ran quicker with the ball than he did without.”
Now, that’s a nice compliment, but it shows how Eze doesn’t perfectly align with the specific need of the day. He is not slow, but he is no stretch winger — he wants to have the ball at his feet, and doesn’t demonstrate the burst to lose a good full-back in behind, or drive down the touchline without a Kyle Walker gaining ground. I have no doubt he could be a good winger at Arsenal, and will offer immediate improvement to that left side, but it may push too many of his extraordinary talents too far from goal and strip him of some of his liveliness. Inserting him directly in the left-8 spot may result in some balance issues elsewhere, and you don’t necessarily want him floating down into the pivot to spur progression (that would probably fall to Ødegaard, which has its own tradeoffs).
You also never feel great about an Achilles rupture. But he seems to be all the way back athletically, which is the primary concern.
In summary:
He clears the “do you want this flexible player at your club for five years?” test with ease. He clears the “does he solve the immediate problem before us?” test with less room.
Every “perfect” option is 100m+.
The rest have some trade-offs.
I find myself quite comfortable with those of Eze.
Then, before any signings were made, I shared my thoughts on some early Eze links:
Literally my fave non-Arsenal player I think.
Way better LW than people think. Can totally do it.
Trossard retention complicates it; would prefer him as Trossard replacement, then another signing. Need somebody to stretch and run, perhaps slightly younger profile.
And in the snap scouting report before any attacking signings had been made:
Despite the quality, there are actually minor inefficiencies if the window is, say, Gyökeres/Rodrygo/Madueke. That’s an all-in bet on carrying, but the team may still be light on final balls. The Gyökeres/Eze/Madueke trio may make the most sense as a combination of skills.
Now, that all aligns quite nicely for Eze. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. My love of Eze is very much the heart speaking, not necessarily the analyst.
The analyst thought: a) Eze is now near-perfect for the skills Arsenal lack in depth, but b) the fee felt high, and the age profile of the attacking line is already older than I’d prefer in a game that’s getting younger and more intense.
A few weeks ago, I rewatched him a few times for my winger piece. This time, I focused on his performances against Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Villa again, plus full-action comps from Sunderland and Norwich back in 2018. Then, I created a 200-action playlist from various, relevant matches.
And I did learn a few things along the way.
📄 Scouting report
👉 1v1s, dribbling, and carrying
Dribbling is the marquee element of Eze’s game. If you watch him for five minutes, it becomes apparent that this is a player who loves running with the ball at his feet. He’s a natural in 1v1 situations: confident, inventive, and usually successful.
You didn’t have to do him like that, Ebere.
What sets this dribbling apart is the combination of close control and ramrod balance. He has a slightly upright, unbothered dribbling stance, different than a Nwaneri, but still maintains easy control. Defenders struggle to dispossess him even in congested areas.
I saw somebody say that he couldn’t play out wide, so I went to look for an example of him doing that. This was literally the first wide reception I clicked on.
We’ve seen him in typical left-wing positions for England, although it’s usually been against overmatched opposition.
Eze was among the most productive in the Premier League for take-ons completed last season: fifth in raw numbers. His style isn’t usually about doing those ten step-overs or flashy rainbow flicks (though he has tricks in his locker); it’s more about deceptive shifts of weight, body feints, and decisiveness. He’ll drop a shoulder, bait a heavy step by hinting to go one way, then glide the other. And because he keeps the ball so tight to his foot, he can change direction at the last split-second, after the defender has already committed.
Sometimes it’s about simple changes of direction.
But look how much trouble he can individually create at the top of the box.
When carrying the ball over longer distances, Eze has a smooth acceleration. He’s very adept at carrying through the midfield line into attack, and is the first person I’d look for on a counter. He goes at his own speed.
At Palace, he would often receive near the circle, see space ahead, and just go on a mazy run past a couple of opponents to get into the final third.
Those “power carries” are a huge part of his value: he can single-handedly advance you 30-40 yards upfield, forcing backpedals, relieving pressure and forcing defenders to step out. It is strange that they don’t show up more statistically; I’m legitimately confused by it.
He can also, it should be said, be accused of slowing down attacks on occasion; he is different than the more one-speed Madueke and Gyökeres. He is not going to rush things.
He can consistently work himself out of tough situations deep.
One thing I appreciate is that Eze’s dribbling is effective in different scenarios: he can beat a low-block defense in tight space with a quick move, but he can also drive forward in transition. And crucially, he doesn’t get phased by physical defenders. He can dribble under contact (guys leaning on him or tugging him) and still maintain control or earn a foul.
I watched as much of his wide work as I could find. Here’s a cut-in and cross to Madueke.
This works out wide, though he can be fairly predictable. Because he lacks the pure pace to beat his man to the byline, he can be extremely likely to cut in, cut in, cut in. This saps away some of his value as a pure, wide left-winger. It works against easier marks, but may be tougher against a lockdown right-back.
It’s not necessarily where you want to place him, but there’s nothing about the touchline that makes him particularly ineffective.
In sum, Eze is the type of player who, when isolated with a defender on a carry or dribble, you expect him to win that duel. It’s a big reason he’s so fun to watch and so useful tactically, especially to this current iteration of the Arsenal.
👉 Breaking down his carrying and dribbling, piece by piece
With Madueke, we investigated every facet of his 1v1s. I found that framework helpful for investigating false positives: players who may look good in comps, but may not translate to a team like Arsenal.
Still, we were already nuanced in the physical/analytical sections. This section is mostly a gush-fest.
Carrying control and speed: You’ll always hear the word “gliding” with Eze. He carries with tight, economical touches that stay in sync with his stride, allowing him to accelerate or decelerate without losing balance. He keeps his hips open and uses his body as a barrier, so even when pressured, he rarely has to break rhythm to protect the ball. You’ll also see him cutting across defenders in open play a lot, nullifying their ability to challenge.
Hips, quick feet, and changes of direction: He “tilts” with ease and baits players to step in a lot. Sometimes it looks like it’s less about God-given physical agility, though he has that, and more about pure comfort and cleanliness with the ball.
Close control/balance: The ball agrees with him. He plays with that upright posture, which can fool defenders into thinking they can knock him off it, but his core strength is such that it’s not easy to unbalance him. You’ll often see him sort of surf through challenges: a shoulder barge comes in and he rides it. This ability to maintain control under pressure is why he’s so effective in crowded areas. If he does lose the ball on a dribble, it’s usually because he tried one move too many or ran into a dead end, not because of an inaccurate touch.
Economy of action: This always feels like the biggest adjustment for skill players when they join the Premier League; Nwaneri is going through this now. Early in his stint, Eze indulged in a bit of over-dribbling, extra touches that weren’t needed, slowing down moves. He’s improved here. These days, he’s more decisive: one or two touches to unbalance the defender, then he’s by them. But he can still dribble into a cul-de-sac more than once a game.
Reading triggers: He has that head-up dribbling where he’s actually watching the defender’s body position. The moment he sees a weight shift or a foot planted wrong, he’ll make his move. It’s feel-based and reactive, which generally makes him hard to predict. There are exceptions.
Inside/outside: This feels like the biggest limitation. For as skilled as he is, he doesn’t really want to drive down the line with his left: he wants to get into the mixer of zone-14 and unsettle things. Defenders can cheat when he’s near the touchline.
Tempo control: This phrase is a quality usually associated with midfielders, but it’s hugely important with attackers, and is one of Saka’s secret sauces. Eze may be even better at it. He has an innate feel for how quickly he should attack different situations, and never feels either rushed or slow. He draws defenders in before flashing into action. It can be extreme:
“Exit” quality: Eze’s best physical attribute is probably his stop-start quickness. He won’t win a 50-yard dash with Adama Traoré, but in that critical 5-10 yard window, he’s quite quick.
Stamina & repetition: While he is active and engaged, his minute-to-minute intensity is not in the highest tier. He’s fairly discriminant with his energy deployment and doesn’t necessarily have the feel of a player who can go 90 minutes twice a week. That said, his dribble quality doesn’t seem to visibly diminish during the course of the game.
Decision-making: This is where the chess analogies really make sense. He is an elite decision maker in the two hardest scenarios: carrying in transition and dribbling in crowded spaces. Sure, there are moments where he indulges his most attacking impulses, and it doesn’t come off. But they never come off as dumb ideas or mistakes. There’s a logic behind everything. There’s been one nitpick, which Arsenal fans may not care about: he’s probably too hungry for shots of late.
What’s the final summary of this? To bring the issue to its most elemental level: Arsenal have trouble moving around disciplined blocks. Eze is one of the best around at doing that.
👉 Movement / off-ball runs
Before going through this process, I may have neatly described Eze as a “ball to feet” player who doesn’t make as much impact as a runner. The thinking was: he’s that kid in the cage who wants it at his feet to dribble, not the one sprinting in behind without the ball. And yeah, that’s got a lot of truth: Eze loves coming short into pockets, receiving to feet, turning and facing defenders.
However, in re-watching him, I’ve gained a new appreciation for his off-ball movement. He’s still not particularly fast, but Eze is a better runner than he gets credit for.
➡️ Cheating a step
You may remember a nice transition goal that Arsenal scored against Eze’s Palace. Just as Raya claimed the ball, we saw the first steps of Trossard and Jesus already happening, and remarked that “so much of football is sneaking an extra step.”
You’ll be happy to know that this is a quality and instinct that Eze nicely shares with the two other attacking signings, Madueke and Gyökeres. He wants to be the first sprinter when a ball is won, and can often be seen starting his sprint right before the regain is official.
On a different freeze-frame, it looks like this (when Muñoz won it). Compare his stance to everyone else on the pitch.
Or this, where Wharton had just won it.
He’s ready to snap into action.
➡️ Transition sprints
I’d previously been concerned that a trio of Eze/Striker/Saka may be too constrained as runners. That concern remains. Still, while I’d want a purer runner on the squad, Eze can fulfill some Martinelli qualities better than expected.
These are some of the runs that make him more than an on-ball threat in transition.
He has a good feel for when to dart on top of the striker and force the CB into a tough position.
➡️ Arrivals & shoulder runs
If Saka and Ødegaard are healthy, the right triangle will persist, which means the opposite-flank attacker has to be adept at box-crashing. This is where there’s currently a large delta between the likes of Eze and Madueke as potential left-wingers: Eze has a real appreciation for space and soft spots, and is a cleaner finisher in these situations. Watch how he peels off here like a striker.
This penalty-spot arrival is how they won the FA Cup, as we remember.
…and you can even see it here, when he knows that he’s likely to get lost by his mark at the time of the cross, so he pops back to the dot.
And this, again, is where that footage of his work on the national team is helpful. He has these examples of ghosting the blindspot between the CB and the RB from the wing.
Overall, his off-ball running isn’t constant or imposingly fast, but it is purposeful and intelligent: selective shoulder darts, blindside bursts, and timely box arrivals that complement his on-ball creativity and could be scaled up in a team with more possession and supply. A lot of it is a simple knack for timing.
This helps his projection as an opposite-side forward.
🔥 Receiving and passing
Overall, Eze is an excellent receiver between the lines: he shows demonstrably, opens his hips, shields and hand-checks, and uses his body to protect first touches under pressure. Once on the ball, he prefers short combinations (bounce passes, 1-2s, and little disguises) that let him progress play without needing much space. His longer distribution is less consistent, and can look like a weakness at times.
We can go bullet-by-bullet here.
➡️ Receiving under pressure
As you see above, there just aren’t that many costly losses. The “Loss Index,” which measures attacking contributions compared to losses, is about as good as it gets.
Eze is extraordinarily comfortable and skilled at receiving the ball in tight areas. His first touch is excellent, killing balls dead, making him super press-resistant. It’s especially noticeable when he’s put into a bind.
Palace constantly used him as an outlet when breaking out, and he was often put in bad situations because of it: if you’re in trouble, you can fizz a bouncy pass into him with a man on his back, and he’ll control it and often spin away from the marker in one motion.
His body positioning when receiving is clever. He’ll regularly step across the defender before securing the ball and use his backside/hips to hold them off.
Every once in a while, he can be so confident in his receptions that he gathers without scanning, leading to cheap giveaways.
➡️ Short passing
Eze links play with sharp, economical passes, often using quick one-twos or little slips after drawing pressure with a dribble. This helps with scaling because these are the specific skills that get players into trouble when joining a top team, where space is always at a premium.
➡️ Vision and through-balls
Eze’s vision for through-balls is closely tied to his carrying. Because he attracts pressure on the dribble, he often frees teammates with angled or disguised passes into the gaps left behind.
Mateta, who has fairly similar running instincts to Gyökeres, loved Eze. These are the releases that he would love to see.
Eze spots runners well and has the imagination to attempt slips or reverse balls that others wouldn’t see, using his gravity to discombobulate the block. Here’s a little flip in behind.
We mentioned earlier that his penalty box entries were fairly low and that was cause for concern. Graident did have some helpful nuance:
In 2024/25, Eze recorded the fourth-highest number of passes leading to a half chance or better among wide attackers and attacking midfielders, with 0.79 per 30 minutes in possession. He also ranked fifth in the percentage of total passes that led to a half chance or better at 2.1%.
The execution can either be very impressive or uneven.
➡️ Crosses, wide passes
Because he plays more in congested central areas, Eze is not an especially high-volume crosser in open play, though that could change at Arsenal.
When Eze does cross from open play, it’s typically an early inswinger from the left half-space with his right foot. For example, if a counterattack switches to him on the left and the opponent is retreating, he might whip a ball towards the far post area for a runner.
His lofted crosses from deeper positions are often stabbed rather than struck cleanly.
But when he commits fully to the technique, he has the mechanics to generate real whip and accuracy.
He looks a little better when knocking them on the run, with both feet, and he can certainly hit a ball. When they’re grounded, they look more consistent.
But for the higher, curvy ones, I never feel perfectly certain about how they’re going to come off. Sometimes they’re menacing, sometimes they don’t get enough lift. I’m not even necessarily sure what this was. 😂
I think there’s a wide range of outcomes here in a new situation. If he’s at LW, we’ll see a lot more crosses to find out.
➡️ Advanced playmaking, key passing, link-up
As you can see from his key passing maps, he creates a lot from deeper areas, particularly on the counter. He’s great at reading transitional moments and laying the ball for a diagonal run made by the striker, which bodes well for Gyökeres and Havertz.
A lot of that is grounded passing. As we can see from his assist chart, a ridiculous amount of it has been through interplay with the striker.
He loves a 1-2 game, and loves layoffs. His touch and vision make him a great candidate for combination play. He often executes delicate little flicks or backheels to initiate a one-two. And importantly, he keeps running after he passes, looking for the next action.
His best pass is when he times a release to a CB stepping out, playing a striker in behind.
He isn’t just reliant on striker interplay; he meshes naturally with high-level attackers, which is why he’s looked comfortable for England and why his numbers jumped alongside Olise.
Still, the lack of box entries as passer or carrier nags at me. Maybe it’s down to him doing more of his playmaking in transition before the penalty area, but that might be me ret-conning a rationale. It’s possible he simply doesn’t get into the box as much as our memories suggest.
➡️ Long passing and switches
Eze’s passing bag is varied but not overly expansive, with his comfort zone in the short-to-medium range rather than as a big-range, spraying distributor.
From the left half-space, he can clip diagonals to the opposite wing or switch play into a full-back’s path when the far side opens up. In transition, he’s also shown he can release a runner quickly with a longer ball by drawing pressure and then sliding or pinging a pass into space. Trivelas included.
But he can also have some random, rough hits of the ball, like this switch.
He’s not in the Bruno Fernandes bracket in terms of volume or range, because that’s not where he usually operates, and the technical repeatability isn’t as otherworldly. His long passes are usually 25–35 yard clips into attacking zones rather than quarterback-style 60-yard launches. He may simply be average at these 25+ yard passes, but can pull out the occasional highlight.
👉 Shooting & ball-striking
He’s best as a placement shooter with straightforward, “easy power.” His swinging results in a clean action. My friend Bastian noted the jump he makes when striking through the ball so his standing leg can stretch out.
He can curl finesse shots, he can hit with laces, he’s good with grounded, placed efforts, and he’s comfortable on both feet.
Gradient tells us that 6.1% of those shots were deemed unsavable by the goalkeeper.
(Honestly, I expected more left-footed attempts than the Wyscout charts show; I look upon those numbers with some suspicion.)
A lot of his shots are the “reverse Nwaneri,” cutting in from this spot. He’s got eleven career Premier League goals from outside the box.
He’s scored worldies on free kicks, has easy power where shots just flow out of him, and he’s a real contender on set pieces.
I’d still expect Rice to stay on the majority of free-kicks, but Eze can absolutely step up there, and he’s a good corner provider as well.
There are moments where he skies them. It’s a bit hard to pinpoint why. Even in slow-mos, the mechanics look pretty clean; maybe he’s just leaning back a bit on contact, throwing his whole body behind it, and there’s a bit of variance when you’re throwing so much torque at the ball.
And I’ve critiqued him for being a touch shot-happy lately, as he does get blocked a lot.
Part of that is his ability to shimmy, get half a yard, and make defenders uncomfortable. He’s hard to show one way or the other, and sometimes you need that aggression to destabilise a block.
Yes, he shoots from too far…
…but analytics people can get too rigid about shot locations. In theory, that makes a lot of sense. In practice, you create those eventual good shots by pulling defenders around with less predictable actions.
Gyökeres should stay alive for rebounds. There’s real potential for him there.
So I’d like him to rein it in a bit, but not much. The volume is still a net positive for this Arsenal team. And just by eye test, the power and cleanliness of these hits is in a high tier.
At Palace, he didn’t get many cheap tap-ins, and I do think he needs to devise more repeatable, higher-xG opportunities for himself. That can change, potentially massively, here. If Gyökeres drifts wide, Eze can flood the box with late arrivals.
Here’s an example of him finishing a move he started, albeit from the other side.
With Saka, Gyökeres, Madueke, and White all great cut-back artists, he’ll have full-time supply. He’s good with reactions and flexibility, and his footage carries acrobatic finishes, bicycle kicks, and scrappy tap-ins.
All in all, I feel good about his goal potential with Arsenal.
👉 Out-of-possession
If the Crystal Palace version of Eze persists, he will be more of a cog in the press than a uniquely feisty, disruptive force. He’s plenty detailed and aware, but he’s not always the most cut-and-dry tackler, and I don’t get the feeling that he’s drawing from an endless well of sprints. That can change upon joining Arsenal, as players know it’s their ticket to playing time; I have absolutely zero questions about Eze “buying in.” Trossard, for example, has almost gone too hard.
➡️ Awareness and intensity
Eze goes as hard as the shape requires, generally showing good awareness of his lane and triggers. He’s not the manic, lost-cause presser like Martinelli, but he’s also not passive, remains engaged, and has the responsibilities down. He applies pressure in moments without wasting energy.
His style is measured rather than relentless, and it does feel like he’s shone more in his career as an attacker when his defensive responsibilities are lesser. Madueke actually has the more impressive footage of late, though Eze looks better at angles.
➡️ Pressing and counter-pressing
One short-term limitation: if you asked him to orchestrate the press as Ødegaard’s replacement in a front-two with Gyökeres. Gyökeres is currently a pretty basic, light-on-the-details presser in his new system, and Eze would need to flip sides, play higher, and be the main communicator. That’s where gaps open. It’ll improve in the months to come, but for now, it’d be a worry. In the future, it’d be nice to have those be the highest players when you win the ball. For now, I feel perfectly good about his pressing from left-wing.
➡️ Close combat and standing tackling
Eze is reasonably combative when the duel is right in front of him.
He’ll nick balls with quick feet or step in to poke it away, but he’s not a heavy tackler, can get angles wrong, and doesn’t always seek out big 50-50 collisions.
His strength is using positioning to contain, not flattening opponents. He’s a good leaner.
➡️ Wide 1v1s
When defending wide, he’ll close down a full-back at a steady pace, enough to hurry the decision. He’s comfortable doubling with support, but isn’t someone you necessarily want left isolated against pace, as he prefers to angle and funnel rather than gamble.
➡️ Recoveries and tracking
He’s a truly great resource if there is a bouncing or loose ball around, and his numbers show it: he’s able to secure a fair amount of recoveries. This is that genius for cage football and close control rearing its head again.
In pure, gut-busting recovery sprints back to the defensive third, he hasn’t looked particularly strong for Palace, and can often stay high. The situations are different: they have five back there, and Areta doesn’t typically treat that kind of thing as optional.
➡️ Aerials
Not a factor. Looks to avoid them, however possible.
👉 Dead balls
On corners, Eze is a capable taker. He strikes a clean ball, usually with good whip and pace, and can vary between outswingers and inswingers, though he’s not among the very elite dead-ball specialists. He’ll probably be the second-choice taker from the left flag, after Rice.
An underrated weapon is what he does in the second phase of set plays: when the initial ball is cleared, he often lurks around the edge of the box to collect. From there, he’ll drive a low shot back into traffic, creating chaos that can deflect or spill into tap-ins for teammates even if he isn’t the one on the scoresheet.
(As we know too well. He did this against us, too.)
From direct free-kicks he’s a genuine threat, able to curl with finesse or hit with laces for power, and he has already produced highlight goals from those situations. He can also serve clipped free-kicks into the area, though his delivery can occasionally float rather than drive.
It should be noted how much this dead-ball responsibility warps his statistical profile: last year, for example, he attempted 29.52 live-ball passes (41th percentile) but 6.26 dead-ball passes (93rd percentile), including 98th percentile passes from free-kicks.
As you see above, he’s made 6-of-7 penalties in his pro career.
🚑 Injuries and availability
Injury history is a consideration with Eze.
The big one was the Achilles tendon rupture he suffered in May 2021. That was, obviously, a serious injury that kept him out for about 6-7 months. He didn’t really regain full sharpness until perhaps early 2022. Achilles injuries can sap explosiveness, but encouragingly, Eze looks to have made a full recovery. By the 2022-23 season, he was moving freely and didn’t show obvious loss of pace or agility. In fact, his performances post-injury might have been even better than before. So in terms of the long-term effect, he seems past it.
Beyond the Achilles, Eze’s had a handful of soft-tissue issues. In 23/24 he missed about 12 games in total: a hamstring tear that kept him out six weeks, a minor ankle problem, and then another muscle strain later that season. In 24/25 there was a short hamstring tweak (about four games) and a one-game foot knock. Nothing huge on its own, but worth considering in aggregate.
I have some lingering concerns about how relentlessly intense/durable his body can be, or whether it needs to be managed. There’s nuance to it all. Goal-scorers (which he can increasingly be) often peak late, but dribblers tend to peak earlier. Eze, though, isn’t about pure winger-y, beat-you-down-the-line burst; he’s built more on close control, and those kinds of dribblers can age well (think Bernardo or David Silva), and he’s got other tools he can lean on as he progresses. The risk is that an injury at the wrong age could sap some of that stop-start explosiveness, which would ripple through the rest of his game.
The last couple of years have gone as one could hope, and he peaked near the end of last season. Here’s to hoping that continues.
🤔 Positions, positions
Eze has played all over.
But let’s start with some mild rants:
A player’s positional history is not a map of everything they can do. Systems differ, some coaches are misguided, and a “position” in one formation can look nothing like the same position in another.
Let’s strip Eze’s name away to make a wider point: you don’t sign someone like, say, Désiré Doué just to tick a single positional box. You sign him because you believe in his qualities and personality, you have ideas for unlocking them, and you trust he’ll surprise you. Timber, for example, made 47 appearances the year before Arsenal signed him: none at right-back. Rice was a £105m signing with multiple ideas in mind. Merino knocked out Real Madrid playing as a striker. Circumstances change: tactical metas shift, teammates come and go, injuries happen. Players have multitudes. The job is to focus on underlying qualities.
We (as individuals) don’t win anything by predicting it all now. Fans can be more passionate about “this position or that, one must win” kind of conversation than the players and coaches themselves. It’s not uncommon for a player to sign without assurances of where, exactly, they’ll play. They accept some uncertainty and know that the story gets written together, over time.
Now, my rant about Eze:
My technical description: he’s kind of a left-10 wingfielder who loves to move inside in advanced areas 🤪. To call him only a 10 and not a winger feels overly simplistic; he’s a capable winger for England, and is capable of solving problems all over the pitch.
He is used better inside, it’s true. This does not mean he cannot play outside if needed.
One watch and it’s clear he can play across the frontline and give you options in different game-states.
…but if it were up to me?
I’d start him at left-wing, update that role to get him inside and suit his strengths, and then rotate him elsewhere as opportunities arise. Here’s what that could look like.
Basically:
In this look, Eze will often start wide, gradually drifting more central as the play develops. In the second phase, what some call the “consolidation phase,” the vision of a staggered midfield box looks nasty.
Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice will form the staggered pivot, as they have.
Eze and Ødegaard will float in the pockets ahead, with Ødegaard able to drop deeper if needed, while Gyökeres pins the back line and creates space. Eze has the full license to weave in and out as he sees fit.
Calafiori/Hincapié can act as the wheel-greaser: floating, swapping, troublemaking, crossing from wide. I’ve decided to call this role l’errante, or “the wanderer.” I am not accepting feedback at this stage.
I think that looks potentially special, and genuinely unique, on paper. The double pivot “net” of Zubimendi and Rice can get you so much attacking thrust if you lean into it, and Eze could be a big part of it.
If Ødegaard is ever out, and Nwaneri isn’t an option, there’s something else you can do: you can flip the formation, give Eze a “free-10” role from “LCM,” and have Rice play the high-8, as he did against Brighton last year.
This retains the double-piviot of Zubimendi and Rice. To my eyes, Rice is a slightly more potent attacking threat in the final third when out there, because he can run underlaps and overlaps a bit more comfortably, and he has a really nice cross-body shot as well. It would dovetail nicely with Martinelli as a stretch winger and an inverted LB, like so:
Eze, in that shape, could basically do whatever he wanted. It’s an interesting option.
Elsewhere, nothing is off the table:
I see no real reason Eze can’t play the #9 in a similar iteration to Trossard in the last two years, if needed.
I would probably only play him in the current iteration of the LCM if there were injuries, against awfully low blocks, or when chasing a goal. The idea of, say, Rice at the base with Ødegaard/Eze ahead of him has its fun merits, but there are some out-of-possession concerns too.
He can do RW, but I don’t expect it to happen much with Saka and Madueke as options.
If left-wing gets locked down elsewhere (by, say, Martinelli exploding), and out-of-possession questions get sorted, Eze could challenge (or merely augment) the captain a bit. He’s more threatening in transition and at individually penetrating blocks on the carry; Ødegaard is better as a secondary controller, presser, and pass-before-the-passer, and is also probably better on the right. In any case, he’ll be filling in.
Bastian sees potential as a more deep-lying midfielder in a couple of years.
Against the most stubborn of blocks, there’s an option where you invert one of the midfielders (Rice or Zubimendi) from full-back and get to play with an extra attacker. You could defend in a 4-1-4-1, with the ball-side midfielder jumping.
Because it’s Arsenal, I have to say this: I don’t really see him as full-back cover, even in emergencies. The midfielders and the other wingers (specifically, Martinelli and Madueke) have more promise there.
Let’s wrap it up.
🐻 Bear case
Some various thoughts here:
The first bear case is role fit. While I’m optimistic about adapting that left-wing role to his skillset, there’s a chance it feels awkward. If he’s stationed too close to the touchline, he can become predictable with cut-ins, and the play may get too congested: Saka, Ødegaard, Gyökeres, and Eze aren’t the fastest front four, and the full-backs aren’t burners either. That makes the attack feel a little heavy.
He doesn’t jive perfectly with the idea of an inverted left-back like Lewis-Skelly, as both of them are going to want to get off the touchline and occupy the same spaces; we (I!) may be looking to get MLS back in midfield, but hey, he was also one of the league’s best last year.
In that scenario, you’d wish we’d gone bigger on a more prototypical left-winger.
There’s also a slight question about his physical intensity/durability, or whether the system can be too taxing for him to create his most threatening attacking input. If Gyökeres were to experience struggles in pressing from the front, too, the combo of the two can result in lanes opening up. That could potentially limit him from being a twice-a-week starter; his inconsistency has been a thing.
Another concern is the age profile of the attack. The league is getting younger and more intense, while Arsenal’s core in midfield/attack now includes Gabriel Jesus (28), Leandro Trossard (30), Eze (27), Gyökeres (27), Martín Zubimendi (26), and Christian Nørgaard (31). None of those ages are problematic individually, but in aggregate it makes squad churn harder and freshness tougher to maintain. If Eze loses a step, he could face an awkward adjustment trying to generate threat without some of his go-to moves.
The other niggling concern is some of those stats on box entries and even carries: especially when isolated to open play, they didn’t scream eliteness, and as much as we can surround that with explanation, sometimes the numbers are the numbers because they’re an accurate description of reality.
I think the price is objectively a bit high considering his age. Hearts aside, Xavi Simons to Spurs is a better financial deal on paper: five years younger, resale value, maneuverability.
In summary, the bear case is that Eze ends up a slightly awkward fit who doesn’t elevate to true top-class output: tactically caught between roles, offering flashes of brilliance but not enough end product or intensity to secure a nailed-on spot. Injuries or adaptation struggles could further limit him, leaving him more of a rotation “nice to have” than a key difference-maker. And the left-wing remains unsettled.
🐂 Bull case
The bull case is easy to picture. And I’ve spent plenty of time picturing it.
Eze raises his game with more touches, better teammates, and a team that dominates possession. He already looks particularly comfortable in crowded spaces and high-level matches; in an Arsenal side that lives in the final third, that quality only scales up.
In this scenario, his dribbling and shot profile are exactly what Arsenal need to open up stubborn blocks, and familiar foes like Newcastle and Fulham are finally, at long last, vanquished. He destabilises defensive lines on his own, and his ability to shimmy into space and get shots away forces opponents to jump, creating cascading issues for them.
He is vital in making Arsenal a more direct, threatening team that can finish off moves, especially on ball-wins. He’s the first player I’d want receiving the ball and making decisions in transition. He can be symbolic of a newfound directness. I am looking forward to more central losses and rebounds. Zubimendi and Rice offer elite coverage, and the counterpress is the best way to get a block to unsettle.
That pressure and gravity alone creates more room for Saka, Ødegaard, and Gyökeres to thrive. Gyökeres in particular could feast: through-balls, layoffs, disguised passes in the box. And for all the highlight reels of Eze’s long rangers, he can also eat on the simple stuff: tap-ins by arriving at the right spot, reacting to chaos, cleaning up cutbacks. I left this process with higher hopes for his goal potential.
Another thing I like about this signing is that it essentially makes Madueke a question-free addition; at that fee, with that portfolio, it’s all reward, little risk.
The creative lull we saw when Ødegaard dipped and Saka was injured? Well, relentless chance creation was the single thing I wanted to solve most, and Eze solves that. Profile cover is more important than positional cover, and Eze covers their attributes, even if he plays elsewhere.
We’ve talked about the Five Ways to Improve Arsenal for two summers now, and Eze finally puts a checkmark next to each and every bullet:
Improve Plan B through the left ✅
Increase risk tolerance in the middle ✅
Boost team speed ✅
Add ball-striking ✅
A few more big passes ✅
(Arsenal could have boosted team speed with some more ferocity, but Madueke and Gyökeres do improve the picture).
When Jake went through benchmarking data, Eze’s top attribute was carrying, and his second-best attribute was shot placement. Madueke’s top attribute was carrying, and his second-best attribute was shot placement. Gyökeres’ top attribute was carrying, and his second-best attribute was shot placement. All three took more shots per 90 last year than anyone at Arsenal. Are you getting the picture?
It’s not just output, though. Eze transmits something to the squad culturally: vibrancy, ideas, urgency, intrigue. He’s a perfect role model for the likes of Nwaneri and Dowman, and a creative bridge to their peak years. More interestingly, he seems to be a final domino in the squad-build that may have gotten Lewis-Skelly to feature more in the midfield, and the left-back to take more responsibility out wide, as seen with the Hincapié signing. This is the kind of thing that may have taken multiple years in the past.
The opening to my winger piece started with a story about Clarence Clemons.
If you’re lucky, maybe once, maybe twice, seldom more than that, somebody walks into your life who makes everything more vibrant, more interesting, more urgent. And you’ll feel a natural inclination to do more and be more.
You don’t sign Eze so he becomes more like your team. You sign Eze so your team becomes more like him.
So that’s my attempt at a reasonable, level-headed look at Eberechi Eze. But as a supporter, you’ll know I’m simply over the moon. His shirt is on the way.
Football needs players like Eze. He is grounded enough to stay reasonable, but bold enough to try the unreasonable. He is overflowing with ideas.
And when those ideas land, they make quite a sound.
“Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”
— Mary Oliver
As a Palace fan, I’ve seen a lot of Eze. If anyone doubts his value, I would urge you to find a recording of the Fulham v Palace FA Cup quarterfinal last season. You will see Fulham having more of the play, and looking likelier to win, for just over half an hour. And then, as I wrote to a friend at the time, Eze bent the match to his will. Scored himself after 34 minutes, laid on a second after 39. Game over.
Let it all work out