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Some football transfers just hit different. Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, from Crystal Palace, is certainly one of them, as is Jack Grealish to Everton, albeit on loan. There’s no hard and fast rule as to why but Eze’s £67.5 million, four-year move to Mikel Arteta’s perennial second-place finishers is a difficult one not to draw a smile over, whoever you support.
The back to Arsenal part – after being let go by the club's academy aged 13 – certainly has something to do with it. Naturally, many Gooners particuarly enjoyed the move because of the way the player got Spurs fans’ hopes up of signing for them, only to crush their dreams and disembark the bus from South-East to North London a few stops earlier. Then there’s the Ian Wright synergy, moving from the Eagles to the Gunners and seeming to possess the same magnetic personality that manifests in pure passion and the joy of playing football, scoring goals and generally being happy.
Ahead of his new team’s 5-0 victory over Leeds on Saturday, rumours of a special announcement 15 minutes before kick off had 60,000-odd fans taking their seats early doors. And when Eze was duly unveiled at the Emirates, it was immediately obvious to see two things: a) what a prospect Arsenal fans had on their hands, and b) how over the moon Eze was to be ‘home’.
One thing, though, that wasn’t at all clear to see was the watch he was wearing for the occasion – arguably the biggest day of his life so far. Casually pairing his new no.10 shirt with a pair of jeans, there’s no way even the most eagle-eyed watch nerds in the crowd could have clocked what watch he was wearing. Going on other footballers in similar situations recently, Marcus Rashford rocked a special Patek Philippe for his Barcelona unveiling and Trent Alexander-Arnold wore a fancy Patek when he signed for Real Madrid. Presumably Eberechi Eze had something suitably grail worthy strapped to his left list?
Well, it depends what you classify as grail worthy. Because for his big moment, Eze was wearing a Green Casio Classic Analogue Watch. Not a limited edition version, nope. Just a standard Casio that costs £19.99 and is currently available to buy in Argos.
Having watched Eze light up the Premier League for the past few years, we’re pretty confident there is no hidden irony behind this most lowkey of choices. Rather it’s a symbol of his humility and desire to get the job done. As if he wasn't already likeable enough?
But why green? We know Eze's Christian faith is important to him and while that particular colour isn't known to have much divine importance, it is a symbol of life, hope and God's abundant creation, so we'll go with that.
We do have one qualm, though. Being a quartz watch, it only has an expected battery life of three years which means Eberechi, if you’re reading, you might need to get a new one before your Arsenal contract expires. Surely one of his new watch obsessed colleagues (looking at you, Declan Rice) can help him out with that?