As Eberechi Eze turned away in celebration, he was sporting a beaming smile, chuckling away with his teammates as Arsenal opened the scoring against Tottenham Hotspur.
There is something about Spurs that Eze loves. Remarkably, that first goal on Sunday was his first for the Gunners since the last north London derby. It was also his first shot on target in the Premier League since that victory.
In total, the attacking midfielder has now scored five times against Arsenal’s rivals. How he must wish he could face them every week.
Beyond those two games, in truth, this has been a very difficult first season in north London for the England international. Still, there is a hope now that Mikel Arteta has finally worked out how to utilise him.
|
Eze at Arsenal in 2025/26 |
|
|---|---|
|
Games |
37 |
|
Starts |
19 |
|
Minutes |
2,246 |
|
Goals |
7 |
|
Assists |
6 |
|
Yellow cards |
1 |
How Arteta can get more out of Eberechi Eze at Arsenal
What makes the sequence of events surrounding Eze this season even better is the fact that he rejected Tottenham to move to the Emirates Stadium in the summer.
The 27-year-old had agreed a deal to move to Spurs but, after a late phone call with their noisy neighbours, ultimately ended up moving to the red side of north London in a deal worth £67.5m.
However, there must be a part of him wondering what may have happened had he gone to Tottenham instead.
After all, this has been a tricky debut campaign at the Emirates for Eze who hasn’t exactly made much of a lasting impression on Arteta, notably hauled off at half-time in the 1-1 draw with Brentford.
Speaking about that moment, Arteta said: “I could see that he wanted to prove something. He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him the other day from the beginning, and some of the decisions that I made. I start to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.”
Eze was rightfully upset too. His lack of minutes since that hat-trick against Spurs has been a sad tale, starting just twice now in the top-flight since 13th December against Wolves.
Yet, perhaps the penny has dropped for both player and manager. As the Spaniard stated, he’s now finally worked out how to get the best out of him.
How? Well, while he has operated in the ‘Martin Odegaard role’ for much of his Arsenal career to date, slightly more on the right side of the midfield, he played a lot more centrally in more of an orthodox number 10 position against Spurs.
What that meant was that Eze was not just closer to Viktor Gyokeres but also closer to the penalty box where he can score goals. It was no surprise, therefore, that both he and their striker scored two goals apiece.
With Odegaard now back and Kai Havertz due to return soon from another injury lay-off, it will be interesting to see what happens to Eze. However, Arteta now knows what he must do. Get him nearer to Gyokeres and the box and watch the magic unfold.
That said, the player does need to become more consistent. There are so many players fighting for that same spot in the team and the competition is only set to become even greater in the years to come.
Arsenal have already signed their next Eze
Competition to play behind the striker at Arsenal is so fierce that Ethan Nwaneri had to go out on loan in January, heading to French side Marseille.
He joins Havertz and Odegaard in fighting Eze for a place, while lest we forget, young superstar Max Dowman’s favoured position is in the same role.
Dowman has spent the last few months out injured and has been widely tipped to reach footballing stardom. The same can be said of young Holger Quintero.
Who? You may well ask that question. Over the winter, Arsenal confirmed they had reached contract agreements to sign Ecuadorian twins Edwin and Holger Quintero from the Independiente del Valle academy.
Independiente are well renowned now for having one of the best youth systems in the world, notably producing the likes of Moises Caicedo, PSG’s William Pacho, and Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie.
Judging by that, there is an understandable level of fuss about the Quintero twins. While Edwin is a wide player, boasting immense trickery, Holger is an attacking midfielder and looks like someone capable of rivalling the likes of Dowman and Nwaneri in the years to come.
Both 16, the twins will not officially join until the summer of 2027 so it’ll be a while yet before we see them in action. However, fans should be very excited.
Well, Holger would appear to have the world at his feet, described as “one of the most exciting U17s in South America” by scout Jacek Kulig.
What makes him so good? Like Eze, the teenager is said to be a “decisive creator with a killer final ball” in the words of Como scout Ben Mattinson.
Meanwhile, according to scout Antonio Mango, he has “such clean technique and unbelievable close-control.” That certainly sounds like Arsenal’s no.10, doesn’t it?
Just watching clips of the youngster in action is enough to leave you swooning over his talent. This is a chance creation machine, the type of player who attracts multiple players to him just because of how he can impact play in the final third.
A young attacking midfielder with 10/10 potential, he is very much cut from a similar cloth as Nwaneri and Dowman. Just how they fit all of them into their long-term plans will be exciting to see.
As good as Eze & Gyokeres: £45m star had his best game for Arsenal vs Spurs
Arsenal romped to a 4-1 victory over Spurs on Sunday evening.