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Bukayo Saka possibly dropped a subtle hint that Eberechi Eze could join him at Arsenal earlier this month. The Gunners have swooped in for the Crystal Palace winger at the eleventh hour ahead of their bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs looked to have secured their man. However, Mikel Arteta's side made it clear they would meet Palace's asking price of £68million, while agreeing terms with the England star,pulling off an incredible late stage hijack. A switch to the Emirates Stadium will see Eze join up with some of his international team-mates, one of those being Saka.

Before the new season kicked off, Saka posted pictures on his Instagram story showing him visiting the New Balance shop in London.

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In one of the snaps, there is a big picture of Saka, alongside a display of New Balance footballs. However, just in front of the picture of the Arsenal star, is a much smaller photo of Eze. Subtle? Indeed. A coincidence, with Eze also having a partnership with the sportswear brand? Maybe.

However, with recent events transpiring how they have, it's safe to say, while the placement of Eze's photo in Saka's story was perhaps coincidental, it now looks like a deliberate hint from the 23-year-old that he perhaps knew all along that his England team-mate would end up joining him in north London.

Palace chairman Steve Parish and Tottenham owner Daniel Levy were locked in talks over a deal for Eze. Yet Eze always preferred to join Arsenal – the club where he spent time in the academy – and that proved crucial in luring him back to the Gunners.

The Athletic reports that, having previously been put off by the asking price, Arsenal eventually indicated that they will pay the release clause, which expired last Friday.

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta and vice-chairman Tim Lewis worked fast to reach an agreement, which will see Eze undergo a medical after playingone final time for Palace in their Conference League play-off match against Fredrikstad on Thursday evening at Selhurst Park.

However, Palace could still omit him from the tie to avoid risk of injury before his Arsenal medical.

Palace’s insistence that any deal be put on hold until after their Conference League play-off match ultimately helped to end Spurs' chances of landing Eze, as it gave Arsenal time to swoop.

The Gunners have not hidden their admiration for Eze, but had backed away from a deal in recent weeks, seemingly leaving Spurs to have a free run. However, a knee injury to Kai Havertz spurred Arsenal into action.

Arsenal have already spent over £200m this summer on Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga.

And adding Eze to their armoury will certainly strengthen their push for the title. Eze has made 167 appearances for Palace since joining from Queens Park Rangers in 2020 in a deal worth £17m. The 27-year-old played 43 times in all competitions for Palace last season, scoring 14 goals and providing 11 assists.

Meanwhile at Tottenham, Thomas Frank is still desperately keen to add a creative spark to his squad after losing James Maddison to a serious knee injury, while Son Heung-min also departed this summer. Mohammed Kudus has arrived from West Ham, but further reinforcements are certainly needed.

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