Arsenal's sensational hijacking of Tottenham's deal for Eberechi Eze will go down in Gunners folklore as one of their most celebrated transfer coups in recent memory.
In one fell swoop, Gunners sporting director Andrea Berta rounded off his already-impressive debut window by both breaking the hearts of their rivals and securing a proven Premier League number 10 overnight.
Spurs were on the verge of signing Eze, after reaching an agreement in principle with Palace and agreeing personal terms with the 27-year-old himself.
However, Kai Havertz's injury then pushed the north Londoners into stealing Eze from under Thomas Frank's nose.
After laying plenty of groundwork and being heavily linked for most of the summer, Arsenal moved in for the England international and matched Tottenham's bid - leaving the final decision down to Eze.
A boyhood Arsenal fan and former academy player, the choice was simple - a return to N5.
Reports earlier this month suggested that Eze's 'first preference' between the clubs was always Arsenal, so when Mikel Arteta's side made their intentions known, the former QPR star promptly took the bait.
The playmaker, who bagged 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for Palace last season, is undergoing a medical ahead of a £67.5 million move back to Arsenal.
Tottenham will be kicking themselves for not triggering Eze's £68 million release clause when they had the chance, with the buy-out expiring on August 15. Daniel Levy's famously hard-ball negotiating tactics have seemingly come back to bite the Lilywhites chairman, and Arsenal have reaped all the rewards.
Palace's "unusual" Tottenham demand which sparked Eberechi Eze hijack fear
Shedding more light on one of the stories of the transfer window, journalist Graeme Bailey has shared an intriguing bit of background on the blockbuster deal.
According to the reporter, speaking to TBR Football, Tottenham felt something wasn't quite right when Palace made an 'unusual' demand, which seemingly sparked fears of a potential Arsenal hijack.
“I don’t think it necessarily hit the players or the coaches hard, but on Monday and Tuesday, the club really thought it was done with Spurs.”
“On Tuesday, Palace came back with certain criteria – not outlandish, but a bit unusual – and that made Spurs think: ‘Why are you asking for this, what’s going on here?’ They had a feeling something wasn’t quite right.
“I think annoyance is the wrong word – a frustration. But clearly, Eze is Palace’s player to do as they see fit. At the end of the day, it’s not really a frustration with Palace because they were just looking for the best deal.
“Tottenham were willing to do the £68 million deal anyway, so from Palace’s point of view, did they really care which one of these two he joined? I don’t think so. Neither of them are particular rivals. Yes, Spurs are nearer to Palace, but in terms of everything else, they’re not really a rival. Palace were going to get the same fee anyway."
Palace initially planned for Eze to feature in their 1-0 Conference League play-off win against Fredrikstad on Thursday night, but the player didn't end up taking part after all.
His switch to Arsenal is now imminent, and an announcement is expected in due course.