‘Tough’: £60m player says he found it so hard when he left Arsenal

Arsenal’s academy has had success story after success story in recent years.

Indeed, Arsenal have brought through so many talented players who’ve either become first-team stars or been sold for healthy profits.

Bukayo Saka is now a world class player in the eyes of many, while the sales of the likes of Eddie Nketiah, Folarin Balogun and Emile Smith Rowe have really helped Arsenal financially.

However, Arsenal’s academy have had some misses in recent times too.

Indeed, Arsenal have released some top talents before they blossomed into stars.

Harry Kane was in the Arsenal academy before he became a Tottenham legend, and now, speaking to Men in Blazers, Eberechi Eze has shared his story of his time at Arsenal and when he was released.

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Eberechi Eze discusses Arsenal release

Eze spoke about his release from Arsenal.

The midfielder says that he found it really hard when he left Arsenal, stating that he was scared about what the future held for him when the Gunners let him go.

“Obviously it was a long time ago now, and you do a lot of processing, but I feel like at the time football was the biggest and most important thing and nothing else came before that.

“Getting released by Arsenal, it was obviously the first time I’d been let go or anything like that, so it was like ‘what are we going to do now?’ That was the biggest scare, the next thing was the confidence hit it takes as a child, all your friends are there getting their contracts, but you’re one of the only ones who was let go.

“Dealing with those dynamics were the most tough things, you can’t prepare for that.

“It was a huge shake-up for sure.”

Arsenal could re-sign Eberechi Eze

It’s funny how things work out in football, because, now, Arsenal must be kicking themselves for letting Eze go as a youngster.

Indeed, Arsenal were interested in signing Eze this summer, and they’re not the only team who were keen.

Tottenham were also keen on Eze, and the player is now valued at £60m.

A quick look at Eze’s stats last season shows exactly why he’s attracting interest from these big clubs.

Eze has grown into one of the most effective attacking midfield players in the Premier League these days, and Arsenal would surely love to have him in their team.

Ironically, one of Arsenal’s biggest problems this season has been their lack of depth in that number 10 position. Martin Odegaard’s injury was a huge problem for much of the early stages of this season, and a player like Eze could’ve been perfect cover in that role.

Who knows? Perhaps Arsenal may want to think about re-signing their former academy prodigy again at some point.