Eberechi Eze must be given freedom to roam and not be held down to one position, reckons former Arsenal star Anders Limpar.
The England international arrived from Crystal Palace in August for an initial £60m and while the Gunners have been picking up great results since, he has not really shone.
There is a lot of competition for places in Mikel Arteta’s forward line and Eze is yet to nail down a place in the starting XI, with Gabriel Martinelli not giving up the spot on the left flank easily.
Limpar reckons Eze should not be pinned down to the left wing anyway and thinks the 27-year-old is at his best when allowed the freedom to pick up space wherever he can find it.
The former Arsenal winger is a fan of Eze, but not what he has seen from him so far for the Gunners.
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‘We haven’t seen even 10 per cent of Ebere Eze’s best in an Arsenal shirt yet,’ Limpar told Hajper.
‘For a star player at Crystal Palace where they’re playing in one way, and he’s the big star, to come to Arsenal it is a different kind of play, and he is no longer the big star. It’s probably hard to cope for a player like Eze.
‘When I look at Eze, he floats all over the pitch like [Bukayo] Saka. For Eze to be at his best for Arsenal, he should never have a fixed position. He has to go where the space is like Phil Foden. He can’t just be stuck on the left side. He is one of the players who can excel in that free role.
‘We haven’t seen nearly enough from him and what he can do for the club but he is a favourite player of mine. Just give him a few goals and I think he’s going to explode for Arsenal.’
Eze started Arsenal’s last Premier League outing, a 1-0 win over Fulham, but was taken off after making little impact on the game.
Arteta said of him after the match: ‘He’s more used to attacking open spaces and breaks and facing and carrying the ball with space in front of him, he’s so good and comfortable doing that.
‘He had his moments today, he put Viktor once or twice through in really good spaces and that maybe if it finished in a goal it would’ve looked a bit different.
‘But I’m very happy with what he’s doing and we can use him in different positions. Today we used him in that one and we can carry on trying to improve.’
He was in the starting XI again on Tuesday night as the Gunners hammered Atletico Madrid in the Champions League to make it three wins from three matches in Europe.
Limpar reckons his former club can can win both the Premier League and Champions League this season, but despite their impressive squad, still need Saka and Martin Odegaard to stay fit.
‘If Saka stays fit for the rest of the season, we are going to be a major threat in the Champions League and Premier League,’ he said.
‘But we have to get [Martin] Odegaard back as well. He is the engine in the Arsenal team. If we get him fit we will definitely be up there.
‘We have some unbelievably good players on the bench. Norgaard, Zubimendi, Rice, Merino, Nwaneri or Eze attacking. As a squad, we have had the best team in the Premier League for many years now and it’s up to Arteta to fill in all the positions with the right players because when I heard him talking before the season he sounded so happy with the team.
‘They have depth. They have creativity. They have the goal-scorers. They have the fans. They have the goalkeeper. It’s up to Arteta this year to actually win something because I don’t think they are going to get a better chance than this one, ever.’