QPR midfielder Eberechi Eze could soon join that exclusive list, with reports demonstrating a plethora of top-flight English clubs are keen on signing the 21-year-old once the transfer window reopens.
However, the 20million price tag is proving to be problematic. The Express asserts the interested clubs are not ready to part with such an amount and instead value him closer to £15million.
In a recent interview with Football.London, Les Ferdinand, the director of football at Loftus Road, revealed that the Championship club will fight to keep hold of their starlet: “It is going to be extremely tough. When you’ve got a player of his caliber doing well on your team no one wants to see him go.
“I had to fend off a couple of offers in the January window and, I am certain if he continues to play in the way he’s playing and adds a few more goals to his game, I am expecting us to get supplies throughout the summer.”
QPR have every right to hold off to the higher valuation.
So far this year, Eze has 12 goals in 37 appearances for the Hoops. He has also assisted eight occasions to take his target participation total to 20 for the effort.
Before crowning him as the best thing since sliced bread, it’s worth noting that only seven of his 12 goals have arrived at open-play. When analysing a participant and how easy it may be for them to move their existing form over to a new group, you want to check at how sustainable their output is. There is no guarantee that a player will be on set-piece responsibility after a move so looking at open-play goals only is the perfect way to see their numbers.
Eze is averaging, roughly, a target every five matches and he is on par with his anticipated goals average. Despite his young age, he is not wasteful. For those showing an interest in him, that attribute will undoubtedly be regarded as a favorable one. With more experience, he is likely going to sharpen up and this will see his lead increase.
Deployed mostly on the left for QPR, Eze enjoys to cut inside on his more powerful right foot. Lots of his goals this season have been scarily like the kind made famous by Thierry Henry. He leans back and calmly enters the ball to the back of the net with the inside of the foot. The 21-year-old is a natural at it nowadays.
But clubs are queuing up to sign him due to his goalscoring ability alone. The 21-year-old is an elite dribbler and creates chaos in the last third due to his directness. The picture above shows where he tries the vast majority of his dribbles and where he’s the most success. Remarkably, in the region just outside the penalty box, Eze has a 100 percent completion rate.
His ability to make space in that region of the pitch is priceless. He may not be the most prolific, but he does not need to be. He is a creator, not in the conventional means of playing incisive and exact passes in and around the playground. He is more of this Wilfried Zaha mould, using trickery to make space. Exactly like the Palace winger, he is very, very capable of it.
Eze could flourish in the English top-flight. He should be given that chance sooner rather than later. And one club may grab themselves a bargain this summer.
