There’s something poetic about dreams that refuse to let go. For Eberechi Eze, something he once scribbled in frustration and faith would echo a decade later, louder than any chant could.
Ten years ago, in April 2015, a 16-year-old Eze sat at home, freshly released by Millwall after already being shown the door by Arsenal’s academy. His dream of making it in football seemed to be slipping away. Instead of hiding his pain, he turned to Twitter and wrote a line that would come back to define him:
Yesterday, that tweet was everywhere. On Arsenal fan pages. On Instagram reels. Even on the big screens in fan watch parties. The kid who once cried in his room after Arsenal cut him loose had walked back through the front door, unveiled as their new No. 10.
Fast forward ten years, and that offhand assurance now carries the weight of destiny fulfilled. Eze, born in Greenwich and once a hopeful in Arsenal’s youth system, survived rejection, doubt, and the hard grind through QPR, Wycombe, and Crystal Palace. His star rose, and he eventually lifted Palace’s first major trophy: the FA Cup.
Arsenal moved fast to hijack him from Tottenham’s grasp, sealing a £67.5m move from Crystal Palace. For Mikel Arteta, it was about plugging a gap left by injuries. For Eze, it was about destiny. He told reporters, “This is home. This is what I always dreamed of.”
The timing couldn’t have been sweeter. After his unveiling, Arsenal went on to thrash Leeds 5–0 in front of a buzzing Emirates crowd on Saturday. It felt like a new chapter both for the team and for Eze, who finally arrived at the place he always believed he belonged.
The internet hasn’t held back:
- One X poster posted under Eze’s 2015 tweet: “This might just be one of the greatest tweets of all time. The confidence that he was going to make it! >>>”
- Another one wrote: “You did it bro, you did it”
It’s the kind of story fans cling to, a narrative where raw hope becomes headline. Arteta seems to grasp that too. Reports say Eze even called the manager amid Spurs’ pursuit, a move that, more than any transfer strategy, sealed the deal.
Arsenal’s fans are already embracing him. They sense every word he wrote was part prophecy, part manifesto. A mural even sprang up near the Emirates before the paperwork was final.
Final Thoughts
From a shaky teenager with nothing but a tweet to cling to, to a £67.5m star wearing Arsenal’s most iconic shirt number, Eze’s journey is proof that dreams don’t die. Sometimes, they just take the long way home.
