A mural of future Arsenal player Eberechi Eze has been vandalised, seemingly by Tottenham fans, ahead of the £67.5million transfer being confirmed.
After completing his medical on Friday, Eze is set to be unveiled as the Gunners’ latest marquee signing this weekend, though he will not make his debut against Leeds United on Saturday evening.
As recently as Wednesday, it looked like the England international was set to join Tottenham after they agreed a deal with Crystal Palace, only for arch-rivals Arsenal to seemingly hijack the transfer.
Mikel Arteta’s side matched Spurs’ offer, leaving Eze with the choice of the two north London clubs and, being a life-long Gooner, his decision was easy.
In the wake of the news overnight on Wednesday, a mural of the attacking midfielder appeared in a tunnel just outside the Emirates.
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Created by artist North Banksy, it depicts Eze in an Arsenal shirt doing his trademark celebration, accompanied by the caption: ‘All roads lead home,’ a reference to Eze’s time in the Arsenal academy.
But on Saturday morning, just hours before the clash against Leeds at the Emirates, online images showed the mural has been defaced with white paint.
Additionally, the word ‘Yids’, an anti-Semitic slur that has been reclaimed by Tottenham fans, was painted next to the mural, seemingly confirming that the vandals were Spurs supporters.
Reacting to the news, North Banksy posted on Twitter: ‘Well this is annoying.
‘All that hard work gone in seconds – a bit like Tottenham must feel about their Eze transfer dealings! We will be back soon…’
Tottenham fans are understandably frustrated with the club’s hierarchy given how they have missed out on their top two attacking midfielder transfer targets this summer, namely Eze and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
England legend and former Spurs striker Gary Lineker admitted he was ‘gutted’ to see Eze choose Arsenal while Thomas Frank aimed a parting shot at the 27-year-old.
‘To be very, very clear, I don’t want any players that don’t want to come to the club,’ the Lilywhites’ manager said ahead of Saturday’s game against Manchester City.
‘They don’t want to come to the club, to wear this fantastic badge, we don’t want them here.’
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