Jamie Carragher has previously apologized after criticizing Arsenal’s summer signing of Ebelesi Eze. The mercurial 27-year-old midfielder, who turned down a move to Arsenal from Tottenham Hotspur, strengthened his bid for the Premier League title by leading Mikel Arteta’s side to a 4-1 win over Spurs at the Emirates on Sunday night.
Following Eze’s hat-trick in the North London derby, the former Liverpool defender admitted on Sky Sports: “To be honest, when Arsenal signed him and when he put on the Liverpool hat, and then Arsenal… When I saw the signing that Le had made, I felt like it was their Roy who really had to strengthen the team, next to Victor Gokeres. So, where Arsenal had their problems the year before was when[Bukayo]Saka was out. With (Noni) Maduke (Martin) Odegaard gone, they got Eze.
“One of the centre-backs was absent, so we brought in a few centre-backs. Gökeres was the only one in the team. To be honest, if (Kai) Havertz was 100 percent fit, Havertz would probably be the centre-forward in this team.”
“So when Eze came in, I thought, ‘Okay, he might not be a game-changer.’ And Les[Ferdinand]knows him better than I do, and he said early on in the show, ‘There’s more to come.’ But you still see some of his highlights from this season, some great goals there, and then he goes off to get a hat trick, so I’m sorry.”
“Certainly, the importance of the deal was underestimated because he has made a huge difference to Arsenal this season and looks like they could win the title.”
Eze refused to accept the fact that he almost moved to Spurs in the summer before joining Arsenal from Crystal Palace. “Let’s not talk about it,” the England international told Sky Sports on the pitch after his hat-trick.
The boyhood Arsenal supporter added: “It was a very good day, it was a fun day. I’m glad I was able to help the team. It’s special, isn’t it? A special person, thank you again. I prayed for that, I prayed for a hat-trick, and I’m grateful. Today that prayer was answered to God.”
And Eze manager Mikel Arteta said of the playmaker on BBC Match of the Day when told he was the fourth player in history to score a hat-trick in a north London derby: “That speaks to the difficulty and what he did today. To be fair, he could have scored four or five points. He’s a big player who can create magical moments that keep the team off balance.”
