Eberechi Eze 'spent hours watching footage' as Arsenal fans learn what to expect

Eberechi Eze's entertaining brand of football is inspired by Brazilian icon Ronaldinho. The new Arsenal signing admitted he would spend hours watching videos of the trickster.

The Gunners snatched former Crystal Palace standout Eze from under the noses of rivals Tottenham over the summer on a four-year deal, after he'd become one of the league's finest attacking talents. The £67.5million signing made his Arsenal debut in their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool, but was only given 20 minutes off the bench.

Mikel Arteta could hand him his first start on Saturday when they host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, and the Emirates should be braced for a showman whose skills and desire to fascinate fans stem from his constant watching of the legendary Ronaldinho.

Speaking for Crystal Palace's club website in 2021, Eze said: "We'd come home from school or whatever we were doing, go on the computer and just type in 'Ronaldinho.' Any video we saw, whether it be him playing football or doing whatever, we just watched it.

"There's probably no video you could show us that we hadn't seen before. Even now, I type in 'Ronaldinho' and still watch him. That's how much of an impact he's had on me."

It wasn't just Ronaldinho's dynamism that inspired Eze to entertain, however. He later admitted that a particular Gunners legend was another whom he looked up to as a youngster.

"[Thierry] Henry was number one. Henry and Ronaldinho. Those were the two on YouTube you were watching," Eze stated, speaking to Sign Up - Into Football back in January.

"These are the guys you grow up watching. They enjoy what they're doing, they love what they're doing, they have a passion for it, and that inspires. I feel like those have been the guys that I've looked up to for as long as I remember."

Eze will now look to build his own legacy in north London, and an admission made in May, just before his goal guided Palace to an unexpected FA Cup crown, gives fans a glimpse of what to expect.

"It's easy to lose sight of, especially (with) the type of player I am, why I'm doing what I'm doing," Eze told BBC Sport before the FA Cup final. "Why do I run with the ball? Why do I try things? Why am I creative? Why do I do things that maybe players wouldn't think to do?

"The reason is for the people who are watching. It's what you're doing to people in the stands and how you can get people off their feet. That's what football's about. It feels like football is starting to shift a bit," he added. "There's maybe not as much of that, but as long as I play, that's all I want to do."

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.