EBERECHI EZE will NOT be playing for Crystal Palace tonight in the Europa Conference League, SunSport can exclusively reveal.
The Gunners have agreed a deal with both Palace and the player over a £67.5million switch to the Emirates.
Eze, 27, had hoped to feature for the Eagles but, with his move to Arsenal now imminent, he won’t be taking any risks.
The Gunners swooped in to agree a deal to sign the Palace talisman from under the noses of their North London rivals Tottenham.
Spurs believed that they had wrapped up a deal for Eze until last night when Arsenal made their hijack move.
Oliver Glasner will now be without his star man for the Conference League clash with Norwegian outfit Fredrikstad FK.
The match is the Eagles’ first in European competition in their history and they will host it at Selhurst Park.
The tie is the first leg of the playoff round in order to qualify for the league phase.
Palace had originally been hoping to play in the Europa League this season but were relegated due to multi-club ownership rules by Uefa.
But SunSport understands he will not have any participation in the game.
As a result of Palace’s relegation, Nottingham Forest were promoted to the Europa League after finishing seventh last term.
Glasner will now have to rely on attackers such as Ismaila Sarr, Daichi Kamada and Jean-Phillipe Mateta in the match.
The Austrian manager could also hand a chance to former Millwall star Romain Esse in the match.
Eze snubbed the move to Spurs having previously been in the youth ranks of the Gunners.
He could give his new manager, Mikel Arteta, plenty of options this season with his ability to play in multiple positions.
The England international can feature on the left wing, central midfield and No10 role.
Arsenal’s transfer deals
IN
- Viktor Gyökeres – from Sporting Lisbon – £64m
- Noni Madueke – from Chelsea – £52m
- Martin Zubimendi – from Real Sociedad – £51m
- Christian Norgaard – from Brentford – £15m
- Cristhian Mosquera – from Valencia – £13m
- Kepa Arrizabalaga – from Chelsea – £5m
TOTAL – £200m
OUT
- Nuno Taveres – to Lazio – £4.4m
- Marquinhos – to Cruzeiro – £2.6m
- Jorginho – to Flamengo – free
- Kieran Tierney – to Celtic – free
- Takehiro Tomiyasu – released
- Thomas Partey – released
TOTAL – £7m
ARSENAL TRANSFER NEWS LIVE
Should his move to Arsenal be completed in time, then he could feature in the Emirates clash against Leeds on Saturday.
Eze will become the SEVENTH player through the doors this summer.
The club have already added Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Cristhian Mosquera and Kepa Arrizabalaga during the window.
Eze’s move would take the club’s spending this window to well over £250MILLION.
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