Arsenal must break the bank to complete Eberechi Eze deal after surprise transfer reveal

Arsenal are playing with their Premier League title prospects if they do not sign Eberechi Eze this summer.

Manager Mikel Arteta has been in charge of Arsenal since December 2019, but has only delivered an FA Cup trophy to North London.

That FA Cup triumph came early in his reign, in 2020, meaning Arteta has underperformed as Arsenal boss so far.

The Spaniard has delivered progress on the previous Unai Emery and latter Arsene Wenger years, though the failure to sign forward players continues to hurt future trophy successes.

Arsenal's high demand puts off suitor

Arsenal have already spent over £200m on six new arrivals this summer, and yet Arteta still requires a forward with creativity and flair.

Portuguese publication A Bola [4 August] reported that Arsenal's £26million price tag put on defender Jakub Kiwior put Porto off buying the Polish international.

Instead, Porto turned to his compatriot Jan Bednarek as a cheaper alternative and as such Kiwior remains an Arsenal player.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is also likely to depart, but the Ukrainian remains at the Emirates with less than a month of the transfer window remaining.

Selling two players who are not in Arteta's starting line-up would bring in extra funds to be able to sign Crystal Palace star Eze, who has a £68m release clause, as instead Arsenal want to negotiate a more finance friendly way of getting a deal across the line.

Eze the final piece for Arsenal

If Eze was to join Arsenal then Arteta would have had a successful window and the Gunners would be in a prime position to challenge for top honours.

However, not signing Eze would mean Arsenal lack the dynamism to unlock opposition defences as seen against Spurs in pre-season.

Viktor Gyokeres made his Arsenal debut in that match, but the striker was given no service and Spurs comfortable saw the game out.

The 27-year-old has been brought in to score goals, but Gyokeres will struggle to find the net without sufficient service.

Injuries last season to Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka showed that Arsenal are less threatening with those two out of the side.

The introduction of Eze could fix that and ensure Arsenal do not derail again from any title charge.