After an impressive season across town at Queens Park Rangers, Eberechi Eze has moved to South London after joining Crystal Palace earlier today on a five-year deal for a fee of £14.5m that could potentially rise up to £20m. Eze scored 14 goals while also supplying eight assists in the Championship last year.
For Crystal Palace, it was a case of third time lucky after they had two previous bids of £8m and £12m rejected for a man who also wanted by fellow London clubs Fulham and West Ham. On the completion of the deal, Eze said: “As a football club, I feel like there are great players here and it’s a brilliant opportunity for me to come and be with these players, to link up with them and to really push on.”
The 22-year-old played mainly as a left-sided winger for QPR last season but he was also deployed as a number ten on a few occasions. His arrival would soften the burden should Palace lose Zaha; who is a wanted man across Europe, this summer.
Crystal Palace Chairman, Steve Parish, was very happy that his team fought off competition from other suitors and got a deal over the line. “Eberechi Eze is a player whose development we have followed closely. We are delighted he has chosen to sign for us over the other clubs that were interested and we feel that this is the right club for him to continue his development. With our Academy recently securing Category 1 status, this further illustrates our focus on youth as we look to consolidate and improve upon our position as a Premier League club.”
The Eagles secured their Premier League status very early last time out but a dismal run of seven losses in the last eight meant that they couldn’t push for a top-half finish. They will, however, kick off a new season when they host Southampton on the 12th of September
