Would’ve this Palace man have been a better signing at left 8?
The transfer window has come and gone, however gooners and me in particular have been wondering whether another club’s player will play would have suited us better, okay I admit maybe it’s a little bit of day dreaming from my end.
However, looking at a position we strengthened in the summer, I cannot help but think whether we should have prioritised a move for someone who is Premier league proven and a more younger to improve that position, one player who I honestly think would have been a steal even with his £68million release clause is Eberechi Eze.
The Crystal palace chairman Steve Parish in a recent interview with sky sports, expressed his utter disbelief at the lack of interest the England International got during the course of the window, he said “I was really worried from a club point of view of losing Michael [Olise] and Ebbs [Eze] in the same window and we didn’t have in Ebbs the interest that I thought we would have.
“I was astounded. Genuinely astounded.
“I mean, the guy’s just an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person.”
He and the club were so convinced that he would move on that they already lined up PSV’s Johan Bakayoko as a potential replacement well before any interests were registered for Eze.
According to reports and rumors during the transfer window, Arsenal were said to hold an interest in the Palace player along with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, and this signing in my opinion would’ve been very logical as it would solve problems surrounding key areas of the squad, such as on the wings and more predominantly in midfield.
The player’s versatility is one of his strong suits but what I love about this player is how he moves with the ball, the elegance in the way he drives the ball forward and beats his man is well represented in the stats, his 6.41 take ons per 90 has him in the 90th percentile among attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe, 2.84 were successful take ons and has him in the 86th percentile. Ball carrying is not the only area where he shines bright statistically though, with him possessing impressive shooting and Defensive stats, he on average takes 3.57 shots per game (95th percentile) and averages 5.91 ball recoveries per 90 (97th percentile).
Couple this around play with his age, versatility and dead ball speciality, then this would have been a smart move from the club, he would have been a more effective attacking player than Declan Rice with us not losing too much of Rice’s physicality in that area.
The club ultimately settled for Merino though, so we gooners will just have to trust the club’s decisions, I mean there’s a reason why they get paid a whole lot of money to run the club !
Eze would have been a fantastic buy in my opinion, but which other player who was available in the recent transfer window that would improved us massively?
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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