Arsenal join the race to sign Ebere after QPR reject Palace bid as Arteta seeks replacement for Ozil

ENGLISH FA Cup winners Arsenal have joined the growing list of Premier League clubs seeking to sign Nigerian midfield sensation Ebere Eze ahead of the forthcoming season as the teams looks for a playmaker to replace the departing Mehut Ozil.

Eze, 22, has been a revelation this season, scoring 14 goals and providing eight assists in 46 starts with English Championship side Queens Park Rangers (QPR). With QPR failing to secure promotion to the Premier League, a plethora of clubs including Leeds United, West Ham, West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspurs have all registered an interest in signing Eze.

Over recent days, Crystal Palace had a £12m bid rejected for Eze, as QPR valued the playmaker at a minimum of £18m. As the opening of the new season draws nearer, the war for Eze is certain to heat up and Arsenal has now thrown its hat into the ring, seeing the playmaker as a direct replacement for Ozil, who manager Mikel Arteta wants to offload.

Ozil is one of Arsenal's highest earners, taking home £350,000 a week but he is not part of Arteta's plans, so sat out every game during the post-coronavirus restart. Arsenal are now looking to offload the talented German playmaker to cut its wage bill and Eze is seen as the perfect replacement for him.

As a kid, Eze started out at Arsenal before he was released at the age of 13, leaving for Milwall, from where he joined QPR in 2016. Arsenal are now looking to bring him back as part of a quartet of Championship players that includes Said Benrahma of Brentford, Louie Sibley of Derby County and Josh Dasilva of Brentford.

Arsenal have a limited transfer budget this summer and Arteta has been advised to borrow a page from Arsene Wenger's books by looking at the promising players in the English second-tier. Already, Arsenal talent spotters have scouted Eze and have thus reco9mmended him to Arteta as someone worth signing.