Arsenal ‘have budget for Eze’ without sales but are ‘waiting for first choice target’ with Spurs ‘ahead’

Tottenam ‘are ahead’ of Arsenal for Eberechi Eze but the Gunners are reportedly ‘waiting on their first choice target to make a decision before submitting a bid’.

A move to the Emirates Stadium had seemed likely for the Crystal Palace attacking midfielder after being linked for much of the summer.

However, an official offer hasn’t been forthcoming and now Spurs look likely to jump ahead of Arsenal in the queue to sign Eze before the transfer deadline on September 1.

After claims that Tottenham are about to launch their first offer, transfer journalist Ben Jacobs revealed on Thursday why Arsenal’s interest has gone cold of late.

Jacobs wrote on talkSPORT: ‘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.’

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And now Football Insider journalist Pete O’Rourke has revealed that Tottenham are currently ‘ahead’ of Arsenal in the race to sign Eze from Palace.

O’Rourke told Football Insider: “Tottenham have rekindled their interest in Eze. They were the ones who have always been the front-runners over the last couple of transfer windows.

“It seems Spurs have been pushing to bring the player to the club. Arsenal have showed interest this summer, but it’s a case for them of offloading a few players from the squad before they can move forward with a deal for Eze.

“There has been talk that they want to offload the likes of Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard. That gives Spurs the advantage right now, they’re looking to steal a march on Arsenal and get a deal done for Eze, but it won’t be easy to do.

“His release clause is soon to expire and it’s still expensive at £68million. With James Maddison picking up that potentially season-ending injury, Tottenham do need a new number ten.

“Palace don’t want to lose Eze, Oliver Glasner wants to keep hold of his best players. If Tottenham come up with an offer, it will be up to Palace what they want to do with it.

“Eze does have options, but it seems Tottenham are ahead of Arsenal right now.”

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There have been claims that Arsenal could have to move some players on before they can pursue a move for Eze but it has now been revealed that the Gunners have enough money and they are actually ‘waiting’ to see if they can land Rodrygo instead.

A well-known ITK account on X, which David Ornstein credited for revealing the news about Manchester United’s interest in Carlos Baleba first, wrote on X: ‘Exclusive: Arsenal want @ChampionsLeague winner to join club. Arsenal has reached out to Crystal Palace regarding Eberechi Eze to hold talks with @SpursOfficial.

‘They made their request to Eze just a few days ago as exclusively reported by us, but now they’re going straight to Palace. @CPFC is scratching their heads, wondering why Arsenal hasn’t put in a bid yet. It’s a bit of a mess, honestly.

‘They’re confused about the whole situation. @Arsenal have the budget for Eze and doesn’t even need to sell anyone to make this happen. So, what’s the hold up? We can confirm they are waiting on their first choice target to make a decision before submitting a bid for Eze. This is dangerous game they are playing while they wait on @realmadrid regarding Rodrygo.’