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Opinion: Ebere Eze would improve every Premier League team

There are certain matches in which talented footballers are capable of taking their career to a new level and immortalising themselves in the sport.

In the career of Eberechi Eze from Greenwich, London, the 17th of May 2025 will go down as the day the technically gifted midfielder etched his name into the history books forever.

In many ways the FA Cup final of 2025 will go down as the Ebere Eze final.

On hand to expertly convert a pinpoint cross from Daniel Munoz and complete a scintillating team move to register Crystal Palace’s match-winning goal in a 1-0 triumph over Manchester City at Wembley, it was Eze who deservedly drew widespread acclaim at the national stadium.

Picking up the FA Cup final man of the match award following a terrific individual display, Eze became the first Palace player since Darren Ambrose in 2009 to score in five consecutive matches for the Eagles as the south Londoners clinched their first ever major trophy.

The second game in this sequence saw Eze open the scoring for Palace in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley in stunning fashion, blasting the ball past a helpless Emiliano Martinez in the Villans' goal.

The culmination of this 2024/25 campaign has seen Eze emerge as one of the most in-form players in the Premier League as Palace continue to thrive under the stewardship of impressive Austrian manager Oliver Glasner.

At 26 years of age, England international Eze appears at the very peak of his powers and looks every inch a player capable of playing for any team in the country.

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Man of the moment Eze has recorded an outstanding 24 goal contributions – 13 goals and 11 assists – in all competitions to date for Crystal Palace this season.

A versatile player, Eze has primarily been utilised alongside Ismaila Sarr as one of two attacking midfielders behind lone frontman Jean-Philippe Mateta within Glasner’s preferred 3-4-2-1 set up at Palace.

Wearing the club’s number 10 shirt, this role in the Palace team has suited Eze down to the ground, with the Englishman given the freedom to act as the Eagles’ chief attacking playmaker in between the lines.

Eze can therefore be identified as a hybrid between an attacking central midfielder and a left-winger, with the ex-QPR man at his most dangerous best when picking up the ball on the left side of the pitch and driving infield onto his natural right foot.

With this ability to play either centrally or out wide, it is difficult to think of any Premier League team who would not benefit from having the mercurial Eze in their ranks.

Although the London-born playmaker appears very happy at Palace and likely to be enthused by the prospect of European football at Selhurst Park next season, his contract situation may make it difficult for the Eagles to keep a hold of Eze this summer.

With his current contract scheduled to expire in the summer of 2027, the upcoming transfer window may be the optimal time for Palace to maximise Eze’s transfer value which could be estimated at upwards of £60m.

There is unsurprisingly reports of a plethora of top clubs lining up to make a move for Eze following the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

If the impact made by Eze’s former Palace teammate Michael Olise at Bayern Munich this season is anything to go by, clubs across the continent may live to regret passing up the opportunity to sign the England international.

23-year-old Olise has established himself as one of the best wingers in Europe since swapping Palace for Vincent Kompany’s Bayern, registering 17 goals and 21 assists in all competitions in his maiden season in Bavaria.

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Ebere Eze signed for Crystal Palace from QPR for a reported £17m in August 2020.

Regarding Eze’s capacity to make the grade at one of the top teams in the country, it’s difficult to argue against him improving any of the so-called ‘big six’ clubs.

At Liverpool, the freshly crowned Premier League champions, Eze could bring a fresh dimension to the Reds’ midfield and provide increased strength in depth in this area.

Beyond Liverpool manager Arne Slot’s first choice midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, there is not an abundance of quality in reserve.

Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are the main understudies to Mac Allister and Szoboszlai in the more advanced midfield berths, with Eze's ball-carrying ability and goalscoring prowess rendering him a player who could add something different to the Liverpool engine room.

As for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, left-wing has been identified as a position in which the Gunners could do with added competition, with current first choice Gabriel Martinelli having suffered a drop off in attacking output in recent seasons.

Manchester City have also been mentioned as potential suitors for Eze, with Pep Guardiola tasked with replacing the creative talents of outgoing club legend Kevin De Bruyne this summer.

The Palace maestro has proven his ability to rack up goals and assists at a De Bruyne-like frequency at Selhurst Park and Eze would also arguably represent an upgrade on City’s existing left-wing options in Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish.

Certainly not averse to spending big in the transfer market of late, Chelsea are another team who could be enriched by the talents of Eze, although the Blues would likely need to ship out a few players in Eze’s position before considering such a move given the bloated nature of their squad at present.

Then there is Manchester United and Tottenham, whose need for quality reinforcements equipped with a positive attitude goes without saying considering both clubs are currently languishing just above the Premier League relegation zone following a dismal domestic campaign.

The world is very much Eze’s oyster at the moment, and should the FA Cup winner seek to depart Selhurst Park this summer he unquestionably has all the tools to climb to even dizzier heights than those reached in Palace colours in the Wembley sunshine in May 2025.

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