Former Super Eagles invitee Eberechi Eze has admitted that his dream was to play for Arsenal and wept after he was released by the north London club at the age of thirteen.
Setbacks and rejections are nothing new to the former England U21 international as he was also declared surplus to requirements by Fulham, Reading and Millwall, and was in contention to be named in England’s provisional squad for the 2020 European Championship only to suffer a training ground injury that kept him sidelined for nearly six months.
Eze’s undeniable talent earned him a move to Crystal Palace and the attacking midfielder was one of the exciting young players in the Premier League last season, playing 34 games for the Eagles with a goal involvement of ten.
“I started off at Arsenal, think I was eight, got released from there at 13, went to Fulham got released from there, went to Reading got released from there,” Eze confessed.
“There’s bare rejections, a lot of rejections during that period. Then I went to Millwall having to try to prove myself again which as a young kid is difficult, again that didn’t work out; I got released from there.”
Eze went on to reveal that being released by Arsenal helped him to handle rejections by other clubs in the right way.
“Arsenal was probably the hardest. My dream was to play for them so hearing them say no at 13 that was tough and I remember like training after I got released and I couldn’t focus.
“I was crying but I think that helped me so much in the other rejections because if I can get through Arsenal releasing me I can get through any other club releasing me.
“My mindset was if it was not going to be Arsenal I have to find somewhere else”.
The 23-year-old Eze trained with the Super Eagles in London before a cancelled friendly against Burkina Faso in March 2017.
