Tottenham Hotspur are “weighing up a move” for long-term Manchester United target Eberechi Eze, according to a report.
Eze, 26, enjoyed a brilliant campaign for Crystal Palace last year as he helped propel them to an FA Cup triumph and Europa League football next season.
The England international scored a brilliant goal in the final to secure the 1-0 win over Manchester City at Wembley. In total, he returned 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for the Eagles.
United have been linked with a move for Eze on multiple occasions in recent years but the Reds’ interest appeared to ramp up following Ruben Amorim’s arrival at Old Trafford in November.
The former Sporting CP manager’s 3-4-2-1 system relies heavily on two attacking midfielders to act as the creative heartbeat of his side.
Under the 4-2-3-1 set-up favoured by Amorim’s predecessor, Erik ten Hag, Eze would have been in direct competition with talismanic captain Bruno Fernandes for his favoured number ten role.
But Amorim’s system would have placed Eze in one of the two options for the position, enabling him to thrive at the heart of United’s team in the exact manner he has at Selhurst Park. A report in May revealed United were considering the 26-year-old as a target this summer
However, the Red Devils have prioritised moves for two alternative Premier League attackers – Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers) and Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) – over Eze with a deal agreed for the former and one set to be struck for the latter.
Eze’s release clause with Palace – worth around £68 million – would prove too prohibitive to target in addition to Cunha and Mbeumo as both players will cost United similar amounts.
But this could enable Spurs to steal a march on their North West rival with the Lilywhites considering targeting Eze as a “statement signing” for new manager Thomas Frank, according to The Guardian.
The North London cub had expressed interest in reuniting Frank with Mbeumo after their successful time at Brentford together. But the Cameroonian winger only has eyes for Old Trafford with United having launched a second bid yesterday after their opening proposal was rejected by the Bees.
Eze appears a better fit for Spurs, however, while Mbeumo is tailor made for the right-hand side of Amorim’s system in a variety of different roles, meaning this could simply be a happy coincidence for the two clubs as they end up the right options for their respective sides.
Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
