Arsenal’s heist of Eberechi Eze, nabbing Palace’s star man from under the nose of then-Sp\*rs chairman Daniel Levy, was so delicious that fans wasted no time working it into his new chant:
_“We can hear them crying at the Lane,_
_Ebere Eze scores again,_
_One chat with Mik Arteta, he said,_
_‘Wow…F\*ck off Tottenham, I’m a Gooner now!’”_
Eze doesn’t harbour any deep personal grudge against Sp\*rs, he was perfectly open to joining them until Mikel Arteta entered the frame, but the way he held off until the last moment, even calling the Spaniard to double-check whether a move to Arsenal was truly on, said everything. And for a boy who came through Hale End only to be released at 13, heartbreak turning into motivation, the chance to return to N5 always carried extra weight.
All of that gives this North London derby a hefty dose of narrative. Arsenal fans are now hoping Eze can twist the knife again with a big showing in his first NLD, and he’ll know full well the away end will be after him. And while he won’t face anything like the Sol Campbell treatment, nothing ever quite reaches that level, it’ll still be spicy.
So how does Arteta prepare him for what’s coming?
“Nothing special, nothing different to any other player,” said the manager, clearly keen not to fan the flames.
“I’m very happy that he is with us. Over the years, he had many options to go to different places. In the end, he was allowed to leave, and he chose to come here, which I’m very, very happy and proud of. It’s going to be a game that I can’t wait for him to experience because it’s very special.”
On how the move came together, and what it was like to pinch such a coveted player from a neighbour, Arteta added: “I don’t know, at the end of the day, there are three different parties.
“My feeling when I spoke to him was that he wanted to join. It’s all about timing as well in football, which is something very difficult to predict and maybe it doesn’t work.
“But I’m very glad that it did work, it worked in a great way, I’m very happy with what he’s doing, what he can do for the club and the team and it’s just the start of the journey.”
Eze’s start to life at the Emirates has been steady rather than explosive; three assists and two goals in 15 games is a perfectly respectable return. Many assumed he’d slot in off the left, but with Martin Odegaard repeatedly sidelined, he’s largely operated centrally. Their time together on the pitch has been fleeting, and with Arsenal juggling a raft of injuries, plenty of the usual relationships aren’t fully formed yet.
Asked whether there’s more to come from Eze, Arteta was unequivocal: “A lot, because those relations you have to build, and a creative player needs to understand that. It’s all about connections and timing and about being in flow.
“He’s playing in a different position, the more he’s settled in one of the positions and has had to interact with players a bit more freely, which he’s doing at the moment, his natural talent will come out and he will have an even bigger impact on the team.”
It remains to be seen whether any of Arsenal’s many long-term absentees will be ready for Sunday – [Arteta was typically vague when asked for updates](https://arseblog.news/2025/11/arteta-provides-fitness-update-ahead-of-north-london-derby/) – although the word on the street is Odegaard should be fit enough to at least take a place on the bench. That alone would be a boost.
With Eze among a group of players who’ve maintained Arsenal’s unbeaten run in Odegaard’s absence, there’s hope that when the Norwegian returns, he’ll have more freedom to express himself, safe in the knowledge he doesn’t have to carry the creative burden alone.
“We have new players and new players create new connections, create new ways of attacking especially, and we need to let that flourish,” said Arteta.
“We are learning a lot from them and where they feel comfortable, how they can do that in the most efficient way, and when he \[Odegaard\] is back in the team I’m sure that we’ll be able to do other things as well.”
In any case, the creative load won’t fall on one pair of shoulders for much longer. Eze has done more than keep things ticking while Odegaard has been out, and when the captain finally returns, Arteta will have the blend he’s been craving.
For now, though, Eze walks into his first North London derby with a story that already riles the neighbours – and the perfect opportunity to add another line to the chant.