Eberechi Eze has signed for Arsenal in a £67.5m deal from Crystal Palace after his move to Tottenham Hotspur was hijacked by their north London rivals.

The Gunners, who revealed the signing ahead of Saturday’s game against Leeds, will pay a guaranteed fee of £60m plus £7.5m in add-ons for the forward, taking their summer transfer spend to £267m.

Eze has signed a four-year deal with Arsenal, with the option of a further year, and will wear the No 10 shirt – previously worn by the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Mesut Ozil and Robin van Persie – as well as academy players Jack Wilshere and Emile Smith Rowe.

Spurs felt they had an agreement in place with Palace and Eze on Wednesday before their north London rivals reignited their interest and swooped in following an injury to Kai Havertz – though it is understood the German’s injury is a contributing factor – not the primary reason – for signing Eze.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta described the dramatic deal on Wednesday as “one of the fastest and one of the most probably unexpected”.

He also praised the decisiveness with which the Arsenal hierarchy moved. “It showed an incredible determination. Starting from the ownership, starting from Josh [Kroenke] and then all the board to recognise that we had to act.

“It was our choice, obviously. That shows the level of determination and how much we want to take this club to a different level.”

Eze was one of a number of players Arsenal looked into in the first few weeks of the window, where, significantly, a lot of the work was carried out in June when they explored the conditions of a deal. The Gunners consider Eze as an option on the left, in the middle of the pitch – but also on the right.

Spurs were considering offering Richarlison in a deal for Eze. That would have freed up striker space for them to try and sign Yoane Wissa, who played under Thomas Frank at Brentford. Wissa still wants to join Newcastle, who had a second bid rejected on Wednesday.

Revealed: How one Eze phone call saw him ditch Spurs for Arsenal

Mikel Arteta explained how one Eberechi Eze phone call to him stopped the midfielder moving from Tottenham – and got him a move to Arsenal instead.

The Gunners completed the £67.5m move to the club when it looked for so long that he would end up at Spurs.

It was reported by The Athletic that on Wednesday, when Arsenal’s deal accelerated, Eze was set for Spurs – but then called Arteta to double check if Arsenal were definitely not an option for him.

The Arsenal manager then reportedly summoned a board meeting, which convinced the club hierarchy to sign Eze.

“That shows you how much he wanted to come,” said Arteta to BEIN Sports after the Leeds game when asked about that phone call.

“It’s very difficult sometimes because you want to be very open and transparent with the players, and they have to make decisions about their careers. It was very, very important. I’m delighted to have him. You can tell how much it means to him and his whole family.

“Welcome to our family and I’m sure we’re going to have some great moments together.”

Asked about what Eze brings to Arsenal, Arteta said: “The talent is unquestionable. He’s done it in this league. The personality, unbelievable.

“He has the capacity to create these magic moments. He can do it from different positions, different situations.

“He’s got that flair. He’s got that charisma as well about him that is very contagious.”

How battle for Eze unfolded

Arsenal have held a long-standing interest in Eze, who was previously on the books of their academy and has said he was a supporter of the club growing up. It us understood Arsenal were very evident Eze wanted to join the club from their first conversation with him.

They explored a potential deal earlier in the window, but chose not to pursue a deal at that stage as they prioritised strengthening other areas of the squad and agreeing new contracts with existing players.

Spurs then came in for Eze after Morgan Gibbs-White chose to sign a new contract at Nottingham Forest and they lost James Maddison to an ACL injury.

Talks were held between Tottenham and Palace, and Spurs felt they had an agreement in place on Wednesday with the club and the player.

However, Arsenal then came in to hijack the deal in a major twist on Wednesday evening. The Gunners consider Eze as an option on the left, in the middle of the pitch – but also on the right.

Premier League spending record broken!

The Eze deal also means Premier League clubs have now broken the record for the most spent on transfers in a single window.

The previous record was the summer of 2023 with the record at £2.4634bn.

However, the £67.5m Eze deal means all 20 Premier League clubs have now spent £2,511,693,000 between them in this window.

Analysis: Electric Eze will unlock defences for Arsenal

Sky Sports’ Peter Smith:

Eberechi Eze is electric. The 27-year-old is a delight to watch with his poise and swagger on the ball and craft to open up defences, not to mention his penchant for scoring spectacular strikes himself.

He finished last season as one of the hottest prospects in the country, scoring in six games in a row, including both the FA Cup semi-final and final at Wembley as he helped inspire Crystal Palace to their first major honour.

Last season wasn’t all plain sailing, though. “I think Ebere has had a strange season,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner at the end of March. “He hasn’t had many goals in the Premier League and he has been unlucky, but he keeps going. He’s also struggled with strange injuries.”

Those comments came after Eze had ignited Palace in an FA Cup tie at Fulham, scoring one and setting up another. That standout display came on the back of a first goal for England. Fit and full of confidence, Eze was back to his best during the run-in.

It is that livewire maverick Arsenal will hope can unlock deep defences and bring a spark to their previously at-times predictable patterns of attack. He offers something completely different to Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, the current wide left options and Viktor Gyokeres will be relishing the prospect of latching onto the type of passes which have proved so productive for Jean-Philippe Mateta.

After being released by the Gunners as a 13-year-old, Eze will be motivated to seize a second chance in north London – and, in his prime, he looks set to do just that and make a big impact for Arteta.

In

Kepa Arrizabalaga – Chelsea, £5m

Martin Zubimendi – Real Sociedad, £51m

Christian Norgaard – Brentford, £15m

Noni Madueke – Chelsea, £52m

Cristhian Mosquera – Valencia, £13m

Viktor Gyokeres – Sporting, £63.5m

Eberechi Eze – Crystal Palace, £67.5m

Out

Jorginho – Flamengo, free

Kieran Tierney – Celtic, free

Nuno Taveres – Lazio, £4.3m

Marquinhos – Cruzeiro, undisclosed

Takehiro Tomiyasu – released

Thomas Partey – released

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games this season

From this season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games this season are on Sky Sports.