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It is a scenario familiar to thousands of aspiring footballers around the world. Eberechi Eze, aged 13 and with tears in his eyes, was told he was not wanted by the club he dreamed of playing for – in his case, Arsenal.
For many of those young players, that rejection is the end of their football dream. Not, however, for the resilient Eze.
Following multiple failed trials and subsequent spells at Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace, the playmaker looks set to come home 14 years later – as an England international – in a £60m move.
“I know so many people who got released from one club, got released from Arsenal, and that was it – they stopped playing”, Eze told BBC Sport in May, days before scoring Palace’s winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
“The fact I am in this position, I can only say ‘ God, thank you ‘ because I could be anywhere doing anything”.
Eze was at Arsenal, the club he supported, for four years from the age of nine.
“Arsenal was everything”, he said. “Just to play there, to go in with the Arsenal badge and be the kid who plays for Arsenal, was special.
” Afterwards it became difficult. As a kid your identity is almost wrapped up in that. When you don’t have it… “
After Arsenal, Eze had spells in the youth set-ups at Fulham, Reading and Millwall.
” I remember playing at Fulham in a game against Arsenal. Speaking to the academy director after the game, I had tears ready to pour down my face, “Eze said.
” I remember he’s talking to me and because of what Arsenal meant to me at the time… tears, that’s it. But these are the things that shape who you are. “
These words will be music to Arsenal fans ‘ ears – especially as they look poised to snatch him from under the noses of Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs had been close to signing him from Palace before the Gunners hijacked the move.
‘ He’s exactly how people see him on TV ‘
Eze grew up playing cage football around Greenwich with his two brothers – who are also both footballers now.
Chimaechi Eze, 22, was released by the Crystal Palace academy this summer – and Ikechi Eze, 28, plays for non-league side Dartford.
” He’s exactly how people see him on TV. Freedom, always smiling, laughing, a good character to be around “is how Chimaechi describes his older brother.
” When he’s playing, I don’t think there’s anything on his mind.
“Growing up where we’re from, it forces you to get good at football quickly, otherwise you’re in trouble because bigger boys are around. If you’re not good, you have to go.
” My favourite football memory is at younger ages – me, Ikechi, Ebere going to the Rec or yellow cages to play football in the early morning and afternoon, and coming back in the evening. Playing football and doing what we love.
“It would get to nine or 10 o’clock and she]their mother] would have to send people to come and get us because we’d been playing out all day”.
After playing football, the brothers would watch clips of footballers – including Ronaldinho and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry – to try to learn their skills.
Ikechi added: “When he was released by Arsenal he ended up very emotional. It showed his human side.
” By the time he was coming here]cages] he was already with academies.
“So the rare time he was allowed to come after a training session, you could tell he had something different from the other players we were kicking with”.
But Eberechi Eze has interests other than football too – and picked up £15, 000 weeks before the FA Cup final by winning an online chess competition against other celebrity content creators and athletes.
Lisa Shaw, his teacher at Fossdene Primary School in Charlton, told the BBC: “He didn’t neglect his studies. He was always near the top of the class for his learning.
” When I saw he’d won the chess tournament I thought ‘ well done ‘ but I wasn’t surprised. He was always very determined to do well. “
She tells the story of him inviting children from his old school to watch Palace train.
” He sent a fleet of cars to pick them up. It was very generous, “she says.
‘ Praying for a Sunderland contract ‘
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After Arsenal, Eze spent two and a half years at Fulham’s academy before being released. Then a trial at Reading resulted in a familiar sinking feeling.
Having been told by Millwall he would not be handed a professional contract at the end of a two-year scholarship in 2016, Eze had more unsuccessful trials – with Bristol City and Sunderland.
” I was there]Sunderland] for a week, “said Eze.
” I remember getting home, lying on bunk beds with my brothers and praying: ‘ Please give me a pro contract, I know I can do it’.
“Then I got the news I hadn’t got it. I remember the deflation”.
His confidence was at an all-time low. It would have been easy for Eze to give up on his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
After all, the youngster from a council estate in Greenwich, south-east London, had experienced nothing but pain, frustration and crushing rejection.
“But always it was ‘ what’s next? ‘ That’s when QPR came”, said Eze, who is a devout Christian.
“I feel like the journey I’ve been on has forced me to grow up, improve and be better.
QPR coaches ‘ taught me it can’t just be nutmegs ‘
By 2018, Eze had broken into the QPR first team following an impressive loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers.
” I met people at QPR who saw me and understood what I could do, “he says”. It was a journey getting there – so many clubs, so many rejections. “
He credits technical director Chris Ramsey, coaches Andy Impey and Paul Hall, and former England forward Les Ferdinand with helping with his development and building up his confidence at Loftus Road.
” I’m hugely grateful for them because that was the changing point in my career, and my belief shifted because of them, “adds Eze.
” They opened my eyes. They taught me it can’t just be nutmegs. They improved me massively, they saw potential in me. It was just about bringing it out. “
When Eze completed a £19.5m move across London to Crystal Palace in August 2020, he had 20 Championship goals to his name.
He had gone from Millwall reject to Premier League forward in the space of four years.
Does Eze feel any resentment towards the clubs who rejected him?
” I don’t look back at any of the teams and say, ‘ oh, they shouldn’t have released me’, “he says.
” That’s the decision they made at the time and it made sense for them. Of course, now it looks like they’ve made a mistake. But at the time, it was probably clear for them to make that decision.
“So, I don’t blame anyone, to be honest. I feel like the journey I’ve been on has forced me to grow up, improve and be better.
‘ Who’s a better player than Eze? ‘
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Eze turned out to be a sensational signing for Crystal Palace, having established himself under Roy Hodgson and Patrick Vieira then flourished under Oliver Glasner.
He quickly became hugely popular with players, coaches and fans at Palace.
Assuming the deal to Arsenal is completed, he will leave with 40 goals and 28 assists in 169 appearances for the club, including the most important strike in the club’s history – the winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
He netted five of their 14 goals in that cup run. And then he also played in their Community Shield penalty shootout win over Liverpool.
” Who’s a better player than Eze? “Glasner asked last September after a League Cup winner from Eze against his former club QPR.
” For me he’s absolutely top.
“He’s always dangerous because he has the quality and ability. He’s such an unbelievable finisher. He’s a guy who can always score and he’s someone who everyone likes”.
‘ He has shown you can change the narrative ‘
Talk to those who have known Eze since he was a boy honing his skills in a small yellow cage in Greenwich and there is immense pride at how far he has come.
“Growing up in south-east London, playing football in cages was a social thing with our mates”, says Dajon Golding, a school friend of Eze’s and now a striker at National League South side Maidstone.
“Even from a young age, Ebs always said he would play at the high level. A lot of us said that. We had big dreams and were naive.
” But it’s a testament to Ebs that he has achieved it. “
Eze’s younger brother Chimaechi said:” Him showing that for the family helps everyone to push on when going through tough times. He is 100% an inspiration. He has shown you can always change the narrative. “
Despite his elevation to the England team, scoring against Latvia in March, Eze has not forgotten where it all started.
” I just got in contact with the two guys who taught me how to play football]in the cage], Gabriel and Rafael, “he said”. They are the reason I play football the way I do now.
“They showed me all the skills and I owe so much to them.
” This is why we play football. Of course you want to win and that’s the main part of it, but the feeling of what you’re doing to people in the stands and how you can get them off their feet…
“It feels like football is starting to shift a bit and there is not as much of that, but as long as I play that’s what I want to do”.
Related topics
- Premier League
- Crystal Palace
- Arsenal
- Football
