Eberechi Eze sat out of Crystal Palace’s Conference League first-leg play-off against Fredrikstad at Selhurst Park on Thursday night after calling manager Oliver Glasner
Oliver Glasner could not hide his disappointment after explaining why Eberechi Eze had already played his final game for Crystal Palace. Eze is set to join Arsenal in the coming days after the Gunners gazumped Tottenham to seal a £67.5million deal.
The 27-year-old midfielder is expected to undergo a medical in the next few days after Arsenal agreed personal terms and met Palace’s asking price. Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta and vice-chairman Tim Lewis moved fast to seal the deal on Wednesday after Kai Havertz suffered an injury.
Eze trained with Palace on Wednesday and was preparing to play against Fredrikstad in the first leg of their Conference League play-off at Selhurst Park on Thursday night. Glasner has been happy to continue selecting Eze and captain Marc Guehi, despite ongoing talks over their departures to Arsenal and Liverpool respectively.
But it emerged in the hours before kick-off that Eze would not be playing his 168th game for Palace. Instead, he would watch the match as a spectator – and speaking before kick-off, it became clear who had made that decision.
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“Honestly, I expected that he would start today for us,” Glasner told Channel 5. “But he called me this morning and told me that he doesn’t feel well to play in the evening and I have to accept it and everything else you have to ask the chairman.”
Asked what his reaction was, Glasner added: “Again, I have to accept it if a player tells me he’s not ready to play. Then of course I called the player who starts instead, which is Justin Devenny, to check that he’s ready, because it’s my responsibility to prepare the players who play for us in the best way.
“You don’t like to change your starting XI on matchday, especially in this situation – it’s the first time in European football for Crystal Palace – but again, we have to deal with it and this is what we do in the best way.”
It had been thought that perhaps Palace wanted to protect their club-record sale, with an injury potentially scuppering the deal. But it seems that, instead, Eze did not feel capable of pulling on the Palace shirt one more time. It now seems that his last appearance came in the 0-0 draw against Chelsea on Sunday.
Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta said: “We know he’s a very good player, one of the best in our group. Everyone knows that he’s not going to be here today but we have a big group of talented players that will give 100 per cent.”
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