Eberechi Eze opened up to Adebayo Akinfenwa on the latest episode of the 'Beast Mode on Podcast', telling his former teammate that he deserved to be released as an academy player. Eze was first let go from Arsenal's youth setup as a 13-year-old, and failed to secure a professional contract with Millwall at the end of his scholarship with the south London club.
Eze's long route back to Arsenal
Eze reflected on his youth career with Akinfenwa on the latest episode of GOAL’s Beast Mode On podcast.
Originally joining the Gunners as an eight-year-old, Eze was on the books with the north London club for the next five years. Following his release, he spent three seasons with Fulham, and a brief spell at Reading, before eventually signing a two-year apprenticeship with Millwall.
When the young playmaker failed to make the grade at The Den, he got another chance with Championship side Queens Park Rangers, impressing technical director Chris Ramsey and winning a contract. After a loan spell alongside Akinfenwa at Wycombe Wanderers, Eze would go on to make 104 league appearances for the Hoops, eventually joining Crystal Palace in 2020 in a deal worth a reported £17 million.
Five successful years at Selhurst Park, including scoring the winning goal in last year's FA Cup final, brought on a £60m switch back to his boyhood club earlier this year.
That transfer inevitably brought Eze's circuitous route back to the club into the spotlight. Despite many people telling him he never should have left the club in the first place, the playmaker was clear that he probably did deserve to be released, and that he did not feel an urgency over his career until he failed to make the grade at Millwall.
AdvertisementGOALEze opens up to Akinfenwa on Millwall release
Asked when he first realised he might not make it as a professional, Eze said: "Getting released from Millwall at 17. That's the one when I was like, ‘OK, this is real’ because everyone's got their pros [professional contracts] and my boys are working or coming out of college or whatever. It felt like real life at that point.
"At the time it's like, ‘Oh, this is serious’. I need to find something now, not wait six months or wait a year, I’ve got to get something. It was probably the first time that I felt a bit… this is crunch time now, but again, as I said, the faith, the belief. Maybe I was a bit delusional. Maybe? I don't know.
"That's always how I felt, man, regardless of the situation. As intense as it may have felt, kept going."
Eze: 'I deserved to be released'
Asked about getting released as a youngster, Eze said: "I feel like maybe I'm too understanding, in a sense. I'll speak to people now about getting released and they’ll be like: ‘you should’ve never got released’. But I'm thinking in my head, ‘Nah, I probably deserved to get released’.
"I had talent, but were there other talented boys? Yes. Were people doing more than me? Maybe. So I didn't see it as like I'm like this chosen kid that should be here, but somehow got released.
"I saw it as it's part of football, and as I grew up and as I've grown up, I've started to understand that a bit more. I'm not really trying to prove them wrong, because at the time they were right. They made the decisions that were correct and the year after, they weren't saying, ‘oh, you're so wrong’. It's only now that they started to talk about it."
Eze enjoys high expectations at Arsenal
Eze spoke with real passion about his time back at the north London club, telling Akinfenwa about the "special environment" at the club while name checking his team-mate Jurrien Timber as an example of someone who exceeds the club's already high expectations. Those comments and Eze's reflections on his younger days, show a player that is relishing his second chance at his boyhood club and is a testament to the work ethic Eze he clearly honed in the face of so much disappointment as a young player.