Eberechi Eze is the kind of story every aspiring athlete should know.
His story is one of persistence, redemption and in many ways vindication. Eze, who recently signed in August with Arsenal of the English Premier League, was a monster deal after his standout performance during the 2024-25 season with London’s Crystal Palace, leading Palace to a win of the FA Cup, it’s first significant trophy in close to 30 years.
But what some may not know is that Eze’s signing with Arsenal, also served as a homecoming of sorts for the forward who was a part of the club’s youth academy — until he wasn’t — cast out like so many other club academies throughout the United Kingdom before him.
Eze’s path to superstardom starts on a little known London amateur team called Bruin Junior Football Club, before scouts from top clubs in London noticed his talents. It would be Arsenal that would get first crack at Eze, pulling him in as a teen to join their academy ranks for the next five years. He would play meaningful matches there, but never really latched on to a true path to pro.
From there Eze’s path would see him signed and released by three more top academies. Fulham, Reading, Millwall all gave him a try before releasing Eze. The progression from one of the world’s best youth academies in Arsenal, to being released by Millwall, would’ve broken most.
And it Eze, it almost did.
“I had tears like rain pouring down my face,” Eze once told reporters. “But I was determined. I always felt like I had something to prove.”
He would later receive tryout stints with the likes of Bristol City and Sunderland, teams that at the time were in England’s lesser divisions. He was released from both. His was a dream that felt like only he was holding onto. Only he believed.
In 2015, it’s said he posted on Twitter, now X: “I swear imma make it and when I do, they’re gonna show this tweet lol.”
Not long after Queens Park Rangers came calling. They gave Eze a one-year contract, but still loaned him out to Wycombe, a club in an even lower division. He would go on to collect Man of the Match honors continuously, raising eyebrows with his impressive ability to beat defenders and create opportunities all over the field.
His play at Wycombe had him sent back to QPR where he’d continue his form. It wasn’t long before the larger clubs took notice in him again, like Crystal Palace where thrived, finding a familiarity in his native London and the comfort on the ball that go him so many looks in the first place.
It was rumored all summer that Eze, now 27, was due for a move. The race for his services was believed to be between Tottenham and Arsenal. Either way, the bid to woo him away from Palace was promised to be in the tens of millions.
On Aug. 23, Eze put pen to paper and signed a deal worth 67.5 million pounds to join Arsenal, his boyhood club, the one that took a chance on him and the one that told him he wasn’t ready casting him out of their academy system as a young teen.
“We are so pleased to have completed this deal to bring Eberechi to Arsenal,” said Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta via a press release. “Eberechi is a creative and explosive talent with huge technical quality – also a big-game player, with his experience at international level with England also underlining his quality and character.”
This season, he’s played in three matches for the Gunners in all competitions. He’s also made 14 appearances for the senior English national team, working his way to try and make England’s roster ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Moving to Arsenal, being back on top should’ve felt like vindication. But to Eze, it became proof that good things come to those who persevere and are able to bounce back from whatever is thrown at them.
