In Eberechi Eze and Jack Grealish, England have a pair of top-class left-sided attackers at their disposal.
Grealish is thriving at Everton on loan and it seems like he is on the way to rediscovering the best version of himself at Manchester City when they won the treble in 2023.
As for Eze, Erling Haaland referred to him as “amazing” as he continues to cement his status as one of the best players in the Premier League.
However, it could be argued that the former Crystal Palace technician still has a way to go to reach Jack Grealish’s level, who has performed at the highest level for both Manchester City and England.
Jack Grealish looking on during Leeds United v Everton
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Darren Bent says he would take Eberechi Eze over Jack Grealish at Arsenal
Pep Guardiola dubbed Grealish as an “exceptional player” and while his time at City was far from flawless, the winger’s highs were sky-high against the best teams in the Premier League and across Europe.
Eberechi Eze has the chance to prove whether he belongs at the elite level at the Emirates Stadium.
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On talkSPORT, Darren Bent initially praised Grealish’s redemption at Everton so far, saying: “He was good for City but we never saw the same Grealish that we saw at Villa which made people fall in love in him, when the nation was crying out for him to get minutes [for England]. I think what we’ve seen at Everton…because David Moyes is very much a manager who likes structure as well [like Pep Guardiola]. He doesn’t like too many moving parts. He likes his team to be a solid foundation but he’s given Jack the license to go and win games for us, go and affect the game and Jack has been incredible at that.”
However, when asked about who he would rather have in Mikel Arteta’s side as an Arsenal fan, Darren Bent sided with Eze over Grealish: “Eze probably, yeah. Eze. Younger.”
“And his ability’s incredible. Incredible. We haven’t seen him at the top level like we’ve seen Jack. Yeah, I’m a big fan for him.”
However, Bent believes Grealish would start for him over the 27-year-old in a hypothetical game in the following day for England: “If he had to choose between the two: “Game tomorrow? Jack. What I’ve seen from Jack this season, wow.”
Eberechi Eze and Jack Grealish stats compared
The pair can be considered similar players, considering they both primarily play either as left-sided attacking midfielders or on the left wing.
Furthermore, the English duo played a talismanic role for their respective sides in Aston Villa and Crystal Palace at a point.
STATS GREALISH AT MAN CITY AND EVERTON EZE AT CRYSTAL PALACE AND ARSENAL
APPEARANCES 217 170
GOALS 17 40
ASSISTS 27 28
Despite the fact that Grealish has provided four assists for Everton, played for a world-class Manchester City side for the most part and is more experienced, Eze has more goal contributions than him for Crystal Palace.
The latter has 68 goal involvements (40 goals and 28 assists) while the former has 44 to his name (17 goals and 27 assists) in 57 fewer games.
Judging by the stats, Eze certainly has the edge over Grealish as a player.