“Chelsea came with an offer never seen in football history but here’s why I decided to snub them and join my dream club”: Crystal Palace playmaker Eberechi Eze has revealed the real reason he decided to join Arsenal over Chelsea

There is no doubt that, as things stand, Bukayo Saka is Arsenal’s most important player.

Despite still being just 23 years old, the Hale End icon has already amassed a staggering tally of 70 goals and 71 assists in 263 appearances for the club.

On top of being a bona fide star for Mikel Arteta, the mercurial number seven is also one of England’s most important players and already has 44 senior caps to his name.

We are sure that there isn’t another player in the Three Lions squad the Arsenal faithful would rather have in their team, although we’re equally sure they wouldn’t mind nabbing Chelsea’s Cole Palmer as well.

So they should be delighted about reports heavily linking them with an international star who has been compared to both Saka and Palmer.

Arsenal target Saka & Palmer hybrid

There is still just under a month left until the summer transfer window comes to a close, but Arsenal have already been far busier than usual.

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Andrea Berta has made six first-team additions so far, with the likes of Christian Norgaard and Noni Madueke coming to bolster the squad, while Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi have made their way to North London as marquee signings.

However, even though the Gunners have been more active than most fans expected they would be, the club still appear keen on making more additions to the team.

At least that is according to a recent report from Football Transfers, which reaffirms Arsenal’s concrete interest in Eberechi Eze.

In fact, it goes further than that, revealing that even though the potential sale of Fabio Vieira to VfB Stuttgart would have to be sorted first, an offer for the Crystal Palace star is ‘imminent.’

Interestingly, while the England ace has a release clause worth £68m in his current deal until August 15th, stories from earlier this month claimed that the North Londoners’ first offer will likely be worth around €60m, which is about £52m.

It’ll likely be a costly and complicated transfer to get over the line, but Eze has proven he’s worth the effort, especially as he’s been compared to both Saka and Palmer.

How Eze compares to Saka and Palmer
In this instance, the primary comparisons to Palmer and Saka stem from FBref, which analysed players in similar positions in the Premier League last season and concluded that the Crystal Palace star was the fourth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Chelsea ace and the ninth most similar to the Hale End gem.

You can gain a better understanding of how these comparisons were made by examining the underlying numbers in which the Englishman ranked closely to his two compatriots.

In the former Manchester City gem’s case, these metrics included non-penalty goals plus assists, goal-creating actions, successful take-on percentage, interceptions and more, all per 90.

In the case of the North Londoners’ crown jewel, the underlying numbers included metrics such as non-penalty expected goals, passing accuracy, live passes, shots, tackles won, clearances, successful take-ons and more, all per 90.

The comparisons to Saka are particularly encouraging as it paints a picture of a player who has the ability to be just as devastating in attack, while also being willing and able to help out in defence, which sounds like just the sort of attacker Arteta loves.

With all that said, while the comparisons to his two compatriots are certainly a positive sign, they aren’t the only reason the Premier League runners-up should be going out to sign the former QPR gem.

Another, just as important reason would be his output last season, as in just 43 appearances, totalling 3303 minutes, the midfield “magician,” as dubbed by pundit Micah Richards, was able to score 14 goals and provide 11 assists.

In other words, the 27-year-old maintained an average of a goal involvement every 1.72 games, or every 132.12 minutes, for a team that finished the season in mid-table.

Ultimately, it might not be an easy transfer to pull off, but Eze is such an incredibly gifted player that Arsenal should be doing all they can to sign him, especially given the comparisons to Saka and Palmer.