James Maddison has hailed former Arsenal youngster Eberechi Eze as a ‘proper player’ after the Crystal Palace star made his England debut on Friday.
Gareth Southgate’s England beat Malta in their Euro 2024 qualifier and Eberechi Eze was brought on as a second-half substitute for James Maddison himself.
After the game, the Leicester City star, who is being linked with a number of Premier League clubs this summer, wrote on his Instagram story to Eze: “Congratulations brother. Well deserved. Proper player.”
It’s well deserved indeed for the 24-year-old, who has taken some heavy knocks during the early part of his footballing life, before picking himself up and making the ball talk in such a stylistic way.
The Greenwich-born midfielder started his footballing journey in the colours of Arsenal, he spent five years at the north London club, before being released in 2011, which was followed up by rejections at Fulham, Reading and Millwall.
But Eze never let those hits knock him down because, eventually he was handed the chance at Queens Park Rangers, and since then, he hasn’t looked back because that road led him to the Premier League where he is now cooking for Crystal Palace.
Eze is good enough to make another step up
This England call is going to further enhance the spotlight that is already on the 24-year-old, and Palace, whilst they might not like to hear it, may have to brace themselves for offers.
There is a lot of talk around Wilfried Zaha’s future, with some suggesting, if the Palace legend does leave, then they are in safe hands because of players like Eze and Michael Olise.
But if a club in Europe came knocking for Eze’s talents, then he is more than good enough to make that step up and take his game to a higher level.
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