ARSENAL have sensationally hijacked Tottenham's £60million pursuit for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze.
Playmaker Eze, 27, was expected to join Spurs after days of talks between chairman Daniel Levy and counterpart Steve Parish.
But arch-rivals Arsenal have always been interested in the England man too and have now made their move following a knee injury to Kai Havertz.
Eze, who followed the Gunners as a kid and was previously in the club's academy, has always been keen on a switch to the Emirates.
And if negotiations prove successful, he will likely complete the switch from South London to the red half of North London.
Havertz, who featured as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Manchester United, has since picked up a knee injury.
It is unclear at present how severe the injury is, with the German undergoing further assessment, but Arsenal have deemed it necessary to move for another attacker.
They had previously cooled their interest in Eze following the renewal of Ethan Nwaneri’s contract.
But fears over Havertz’s injury have changed the situation and now the Gunners are accelerating a move for the Eagles hero.
It would be a stunning blow for Spurs, who looked to have had the Three Lions attacker in their grasp.
BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK
Tottenham had the conditions of a deal agreed with Palace on Wednesday.
But the Eagles would not finalise the move as they wanted Eze to be available for Thursday's Europa Conference League play-off first leg at home to Fredrikstad.
Unlike Alexander Isak at Newcastle or Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, Eze has not kicked up a fuss throughout negotiations and has never made him unavailable for selection.
He played in Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Chelsea and trained normally today ahead of tomorrow's European clash, which SunSport still expects Eze to play in.
Should Eze’s move to Arsenal go through, it will force Spurs to look once again elsewhere for a new No10.
They were already foiled earlier this summer in their bid to sign Morgan Gibbs-White, who ended up signing a new contract at Nottingham Forest.
And with James Maddison out for most of the season with a serious knee injury, they will now have to seek alternatives for a new playmaker for Thomas Frank’s side.
Speaking about Eze's future after the 0-0 draw with Chelsea, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner said: "You are just talking about rumours.
"Eberechi Eze, as much as I know, has a contract with Crystal Palace, he’s a Crystal Palace player.
"I know Ebs’ clause is gone, it’s the club’s decision and we will see what happens."
Eze joined the club in a £17m deal in 2020 and has gone on to make 167 appearances, scoring 40 goals.
His contributions for Palace included scoring in the quarter-final, semi-final and the winner in the final of last season's FA Cup as Palace won their first ever major trophy.
He also starred in the Community Shield at Wembley, but missed a penalty in the shootout as Palace beat Liverpool 3-2 in the shootout.