Spurs open Eberechi Eze talks as they try to beat Arsenal to Crystal Palace attacker

Tottenham have opened talks over a move for Eberechi Eze and are pushing to beat Arsenal to the Crystal Palace attacker.

Eze, whose £68m release clause expires on Friday, is the subject of a tussle between the north London rivals. Arsenal have been leading the race for the England international but are yet to send an offer to Palace. They have indicated they need to make sales in attack before pressing ahead with their pursuit of Eze.

The delay from Arsenal, who are looking for buyers for Leandro Trossard, has opened the door for Spurs to act on their longstanding interest. Thomas Frank, the new Spurs manager, needs attacking additions after losing James Maddison to a long-term knee injury and missing out on the signing of Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White. They can offer Champions League football to Eze after winning the Europa League last season.

An agreement is yet to be reached, though, and Spurs do not intend to meet Eze’s clause. A further complication for Spurs is that Arsenal are believed to be the 27-year-old’s favoured destination should he leave Palace.

Arsenal, who have bolstered their attack with the additions of Victor Gyökeres and Noni Madueke, have shown ambition this summer as they look to win the title for the first time since 2004. They have spent close to £200m and would like to shift unwanted players. Trossard has fallen down the pecking order in attack and Fábio Vieira has no future at the club.

Arteta is understood to have identified Eze as a player capable of giving Arsenal an extra edge against deep defences. Creativity was a problem for the Spaniard’s team last season. Their hopes of keeping up with Liverpool foundered on a chronic lack of ruthlessness, causing them to draw too many winnable games.

Palace, who have lost their appeal to be reinstated to the Europa League, will hope to hold on to their best attacker. Eze, who hopes to earn a spot in England’s squad for next summer’s World Cup, scored the winner in last season’s FA Cup final and has developed into one of the league’s most dangerous talents.

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Palace are trying to sell Marc Guéhi to avoid losing the defender for nothing next summer when his contract expires. He is a target for Liverpool.

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