Eberechi Eze's agreement with his former club is making Arsenal more difficult in their pursuit of the England international.
Coach Mikel Arteta continues to target him as an important addition in the 2025 summer transfer window. The "Gunners" see Crystal Palace's star as the next target in their squad upgrade plan.
Eze is seen as an ideal option to add depth and variety to Arsenal's attack, following the arrivals of Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke.
A transfer deal is considered a relatively feasible deal, with the current contract between Eze and Crystal Palace having a release clause worth £67.5 million.
The Gunners need to raise enough funds to pay the release fee as Crystal Palace wants to receive most of that money in advance payment. However, there is one factor to note: a second clause in Eze's contract could complicate the deal.
Eze's former club, Queens Park Rangers, still retains a 15% stake in the player's resell. This clause allows the London side to receive 15% of Crystal Palace's profits from the Eze transfer deal.
With an initial price of less than £20 million when signing the Eze contract, QPR could earn nearly £7.5 million if the deal is successfully transferred to the Emirates.
Eze still has two years left on his contract with Crystal Palace. Palace manager Oliver Glasner has spoken about the possibility of selling players, and called on the club's board to be steadfast in keeping their key players ahead of the new season.
"Although all the key players are still here, we have not made the most of this transfer window. I was promised that the team would be more active and recruit new players earlier this year.
Currently, I have 17 players off the field. I hope we will not lose anyone more. If that happens and we have to add four new players on the last day of the transfer window like last year, we could have a wrong start," said Glasner.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace president Steve Parish expressed his surprise that the club still kept Eze in the transfer window last year.
"I am really worried about the possibility of losing both Michael Olise and Eze in the same transfer window. And we have not received the clear attention from Eze as I thought," said Steve Parish.
Along with Eze, Palace are also trying to keep center-back Marc Guehi, who is receiving attention from Liverpool. However, the Reds are currently focusing on recruiting striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle.
