Arsenal transfer 'meltdown' explained as Bukayo Saka posts Eberechi Eze story

Arsenal starboy Bukayo Saka has poured fuel onto the fire over a potential transfer swoop for Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze this summer with a cryptic image posted on his Instagram account.

The Gunners have already bolstered their attacking options in recent weeks having lacked goal threat at times last term amid injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. Viktor Gyokeres arrived at the Emirates Stadium from Sporting CP following much speculation and Noni Madueke has made the move across the capital from Chelsea.

Mikel Arteta has also strengthened in goal, defence and midfield but the feeling is that new sporting director Andrea Berta is not done with his transfer dealings quite yet. Eze is widely reported to be a top target before the end of the window.

Arsenal weighing up £68m Eze transfer

The Crystal Palace man, who scored the winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester City earlier this year, has a £68 million release clause in his current contract at Selhurst Park. That clause will expire on August 15 but it’s been reported that Crystal Palace could still sanction an exit for that price following the expiry.

The Standard claims that Eze is happy at Crystal Palace but would be open to a move to Arsenal should the opportunity present itself. The Gunners are said to have held talks with Eze’s representatives earlier this summer but are a little put off by what they believe to be a lofty asking price.

It’s certainly a transfer rumour to keep an eye on and Arsenal winger Saka did little to help calm down transfer talk when uploading a story on Instagram late on Saturday night. The image, from the New Balance London Flagship store, showed a large image of Saka on a sliding door next to a wall of footballs. In the bottom left was a carefully positioned smaller image of Eze.

Bukayo Saka Instagram post explained

Saka didn’t share a caption with the photo but it didn’t take long for speculation to begin. SportBible reported that Gunners supporters had gone into ‘meltdown’ after the post, which they labelled as a ‘transfer hint’.

However, the reality is that the Arsenal forward likely had little to do with the positioning of Eze in the shot. Just in the same way that Saka has New Balance tagged in his Instagram bio, Eze does too. Both have sponsorship deals with the brand, which explains Eze’s presence at the New Balance London Flagship store.

Eze first signed with New Balance when breaking into the Premier League in 2021. Having just made the move from QPR to Crystal Palace the year prior, the winger had been wearing New Balance boots before signing with the brand. He followed in the footsteps of Raheem Sterling and Harvey Elliott in signing with the brand.

Speaking at the time, he said: “Joining New Balance is a huge moment for me and I’m grateful for this opportunity. There’s so much more I want to achieve in the game and right now I’m working on putting in good performances to help me get there. It’s great to have a global brand behind me.”

In other news, Arsenal want £13m discount on player who is 'keen' on transfer.