Arsenal given dressing room warning about three players ahead of Eberechi Eze medical

Former Arsenal midfielder Anders Limpar reckons the anticipated signing of Eberechi Eze may unsettle Gunners trio Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Noni Madueke.

At the beginning of this week, the Crystal Palace midfielder appeared destined to join Tottenham Hotspur. However, Kai Havertz's knee injury sparked the Gunners into life, and they quickly agreed on a £68million deal with the Eagles for the midfielder, right under the nose of their fiercest rival.

Provided he successfully completes his medical on Friday, Eze will become the seventh addition to Mikel Arteta's squad this summer. While numerous Arsenal supporters are thrilled at the possibility of securing the England international, Limpar confesses he's worried Eze's arrival might disrupt Arteta's collection of attacking players, particularly Trossard, Martinelli and Madueke.

Speaking to Premier League Betting site BoyleSports, the Swede said: "To bring another one in, if you want to play Eze, what is Madueke going to do? What about Martinelli? And Trossard? You can't just buy players for fun. You have to have this chemistry among the players.

"The team we have now, that's the team we're going to win with. End of story. I don't think we need any more players at the moment because Arsenal have a tremendous team spirit."

Martinelli has been among Arteta's most trusted players for several campaigns, while Trossard – who is reportedly set to sign fresh terms in north London – has predominantly featured as a squad rotation option. Madueke began on the substitutes' bench during Arsenal's 1-0 triumph at Manchester United on Sunday, entering the fray in place of Martinelli after 60 minutes.

During January, former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott joined a chorus of voices criticising the Brazilian, who has frequently faced accusations of lacking a clinical edge. While many supporters believe he lacks sufficient ruthlessness in the final third, Limpar considers much of the criticism directed towards Martinelli to be unjustified.

He continued: "I think it's a little bit unfair to say that about Gabriel Martinelli (he's got no end product) because at one stage of the season Arteta must have told him to get back more. He was attacking, he was scoring and producing crosses and still chasing back.

"You can see he was chasing back all the way to his own defence and in that sense he helped Arsenal so much that you can't just turn around and complain that he's not having the end product.

"In my opinion, I think it's a little bit unfair the criticism he gets. He's a good player but imagine yourself if you're a starter and suddenly Arsenal fans are screaming for a new winger. That's not fun to hear if you're a player.

"Madueke has come in. There's talk about Eze. That can't be good for Martinelli's confidence. He did tremendous work for the team defensively. You can't have it all. I like him as a player."

With skipper Martin Odegaard and star player Bukayo Saka virtually assured of their places in the starting line-up, alongside new forward Viktor Gyokeres, Arteta will inevitably need to rotate his squad as Arsenal aim to compete on four fronts this season.

Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi are anticipated to hold down the midfield, so it's inevitable that not everyone in the Arsenal camp will be entirely satisfied with their playing time this season.

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