Eze plays long game but end-of-season form could give Arsenal title lift now | Ed Aarons

Eberechi Eze’s personal mantra—“It’s not about now. It’s the long game”—has never felt more relevant. The 27-year-old, a £67.5 million summer recruit from Crystal Palace, has watched his Arsenal career stall after a blistering start that included a derby-day hat-trick against Tottenham in November. Since that 4-1 triumph, Eze has gone 18 competitive appearances without a goal and has been relegated to cameo duties by Mikel Arteta.

The downturn has been stark. Arteta substituted Eze at half-time during last week’s 2-0 loss at Brentford—his first Premier League start in almost two months—and opted for Bukayo Saka in the central playmaker’s role against Wolves in midweek. With Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard poised to return from injury for Sunday’s north-London derby, Eze’s route back into the XI appears even more congested.

Arteta insists the coaching staff are still calibrating how best to deploy the England international. “In the last few weeks he has had more consistency in one position and is just trying to understand those relationships where he is more comfortable where he can impact the game more in relation to the opponent,” the manager said before the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea.

Numbers illustrate the struggle. Eze is attempting 2.8 dribbles per match this season—down from 4.6 at Palace—and completing only 1.6. His creative output has dipped to 0.7 chances created per 90 minutes, a fraction of the 2.4 he averaged in his final two seasons at Selhurst Park. Arsenal, meanwhile, rank fourth among the big six for chances created and have scored 17 fewer open-play goals than Manchester City.

Yet history suggests Eze’s most decisive contributions arrive when calendars turn to spring. Across his Premier League career, 18 of his 38 goals have fallen between match-weeks 30 and 38. If Arteta’s side are to fend off City and end a 20-year wait for the title, a late-season surge from their marquee summer signing could prove invaluable.

First, Eze must persuade his manager. He was last used on the left flank in the stoppage-time defeat to Aston Villa in December, a night when his failure to track Matty Cash contributed to the equaliser. Since then, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli have monopolised the wide-left berth, while Eze’s tendency to drift inward has occasionally compromised Declan Rice’s forward passing lanes.

Eze, ever philosophical, remains outwardly patient. “As long as I’m on the pitch and I’m given the opportunity to play and express myself in that environment then it doesn’t matter where I play,” he told Ian Wright in August. The next eight league fixtures will determine whether that opportunity arrives in time to shape Arsenal’s destiny—or merely his own long game.