Eberechi Eze's family 'thanked God' as Arsenal hijacked Spurs 'done deal', reveals Ian Wright

Ian Wright has shed light on how Eberechi Eze nearly ended up at Tottenham and the crucial role his family played in his eventual switch to Arsenal.

Eze's signing was the Gunners' seventh signing of the summer, pushing their summer spend beyond £250m. Spurs were on the brink of securing Eze after reaching an agreement with Crystal Palace last week.

However, following Kai Havertz's knee injury during the opening-weekend win at Manchester United, the Gunners swooped in to seal a deal worth £60million plus £7.5m in potential add-ons.

Given Eze's past ties in his youth with Arsenal and his support for the Gunners, it didn't take much to sway him. A four-year contract was swiftly agreed upon and he was officially introduced to fans ahead of Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of Leeds United.

Wright even revealed that Eze's family view Havertz's injury, which opened the door for his dream move, as divine intervention.

Speaking on the Stick to Football show, the Arsenal legend – who was part of Eze's Arsenal announcement video – said: "It [Eze to Spurs] was done. He's very God fearing.

"I know a lot of people will turn round and go, 'Here we go,' but they genuinely believe it's happened because it's meant to happen. That's why, when he walked out of the tunnel, he could feel it, he couldn't believe it had happened."

Discussing what signing for Arsenal meant to Eze and his family, Wright said: "The whole family are Arsenal. You can imagine what his family are going through, [thinking] 'He's going to playing for Tottenham.'

"The pure happiness and joy of him being there [at Arsenal], you just feel like it's going to work out for him. I want it to work out for him simply for that reason.

"It's where he wants to be. It's very rare you get where you want to be at the level he's at. He got thrown out of there [Arsenal] at 13 and came back."

After Eze's introduction and the win over Leeds, Mikel Arteta spoke about the lightning-quick nature of the deal, saying: "It was one of the fastest transfers, I would say. And one of the most unexpected. But it showed an incredible determination.

"I was getting no news today on the phone so I thought it wasn't happening. But at the last minute, again, they managed to pull it off.

"It created some flames, some fire in the stadium, and that was great to witness. He has the capacity to create magic moments."

When speaking to Wright for Arsenal's official media channels, Eze reflected on his beliefs. The 27-year-old said: "I can only thank God for the opportunity to be here, to be playing. To be recognised in this type of manner is what I wanted to do. I feel so blessed."

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