Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson insists Eberechi Eze will remain at the club this summer.
Eze has caught the eye with a number of impressive displays for the Eagles following his arrival from Sky Bet Championship club Queens Park Rangers last summer.
The midfielder scored a sublime goal and provided an assist in the side’s 2-0 win against Sheffield United at the Bramall Lane on Saturday.
On potential suitors trying to prise Eze away from Selhurst Park come the end of the season, Hodgson said: “It has not really occurred to me as we’ve only just signed him.
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“It was quite an investment for our club to pay 15 (million pounds) and then five (million pounds) in add-ons – that’s quite a big investment for us.
“I wasn’t contemplating that it was an investment that would only last one season and then he would move somewhere else, so I hope that is not the case.
“I am pretty sure the club will work very, very hard to make sure any interest in him will be warded off because we bought him into the football club to play for us and to make us better, we didn’t bring him into the club to make some small profit on a transfer at the end of the first season.
“It is his first season since coming from the Championship and you expect people to need a bit of time to get fully adjusted to play at this level, and we are delighted with him.”
18 Comments
Just read that kelechi nwakaili was named player of the month in the Spanish segunda league. All those who have been clamouring for his inclusion in the Super Eagles can take encouragement from the news that he is seen as a leader in alcoron due to his performance in helping them escape relegation (which they have not yet done). His parent club Huesca have been relegated back to the second division. I dont know what this will entail for the young Nigerian midfielder, but what I believe is the only way he will attract the attention of the national team coach is if he is consistently performing and ofcourse playing at a high leave.
As much as we are disappointed that Eze chose to play for England U21 instead of the SE, no one can deny the guy’s quality. The guy is a true baller, imagine him on one side and olise on the other with ndidi anchoring, it will be really sweet to see. Not one to compare players but there is no way Eze won’t be featuring regularly for Everton. On current form I will pick Eze ahead of Iwobi in our midfield. Are we sure Iwobi will make crystal palace starting 11 based on current form? I like Iwobi but honestly he needs to improve and quickly too. The fact that iwobi isn’t playing regularly should be a big concern to SE fans and technical crew. He (iwobi) is very important for the SE as he is a player that puts fear in oppositions minds (especially African opposition) but if he keeps getting only 5 -10 mins most times and even when started never goes the entire 90 should be very worrisome. It is a guarantee that Everton will reinforce come this summer, the EUROS will showcase many talents and blif me Everton will sign midfielders to boost their midfield based on dia ambition to feature in europe’s elite club competition. Iwobi will do himself alot of good by being more adventurous and stop being scared of making mistakes. He is a very good player but plays too timidly in my view. I personally think iwobi is not a winger (his crossing is super poor, not sure if he is crossing or shooting, his crosses rarely goes past tge 1st line of defense imho) but someone that should be given the licensed to roam and play with freedom, he will excel/thrive there. What is really going for Iwobi imho is that he is a national team material as he always comes through for 9ja when asked to but for clubside, most will agree that he hasn’t lived up to expectation for several seasons now. I am in no way knocking him as I know he is a very talented player but he should be scoring goals, this Everton team is too small for Iwobi not to be commanding 1st team shirt na, an arsenal product for dat matter. Iwobi is still very crucial for the SE but he needs to up his game honestly. I just wonder why its easy for him to score easily for 9ja and difficult to replicate same form for Everton. Yeah coach’s tactic do play a role but iwobi dey fall our collective hands. I know he will come good but he really needs to do it fast, Everton fans are beginning to loose patients. Just my take
I have seen so much of Iwobi to continue to get outstanded why he plays so timid for one from the famed Arsenal Academy… I really like him for his handsomeness and innate abilities but he is not making a convincing case for himself… I think he should go toughen his game in Italy and return back to premier league… as it is he has remained flatly unconvincing for one with his evident potentials… See how little Eze plays with guile and confidence? Now people will know why I hardly ever list him as a midfielder for Eagles these days… I can’t even count on Iwobi’s stamina and workrate sadly!
Hi Proudly9ja,
I also think Eze will be a quality addition to the Super Eagles’ midfield should he elect to hitch his international wagon to Nigeria’s (rising) star.
Iwobi is a very good footballer, excellent in 1v1, very direct and good in 1,2 situations around the box. Imo I will advise him to leave the club if ancelloti don’t trust him as an AM.
Everton are bidding for Coutinho BTW.
There we go again, always quick to criticise our players , the fact that a coach chooses to bench a player does mean the player is spent, there are many things that are responsible for coaches choice of players and they are not always based on the abilities or inabilities of players. Salah,De Bryne, Lukaku were all at a time condemned to the bench at Chelsea but look at where they are today and i just read that Chelsea are showing interest in Salah again, that is football. When Arsene Wenger promoted Iwobi to the first team at Arsenal he was using week in week out and Iwobi was on top of his game but as soon as he left the guy that came on pushed Iwobi to the wings and Rohr did same at the National team, that was when his game nose dived, he had a spat with Rohr at the World cup because of it and that was why Rohr left him on the bench through out the competition after his appearance in the first match. Iwobi is a massive baller who like to play as false 9, just picture what he did against Argentina in that infamous pre World cup friendly in Russia. My advise to us all is that we should be supportive of our internationals during their difficult times, they read our comments a lot, so we should be nice to them because negative comments for us their fans affects them psychologically. These are players that are always racially harassed in Europe and in the case of somebody like Iwobi who always face criticism not for any wrong doing but for the simple reason that he chose Nigeria over England.
@Frank Smith… honestly, your mature and sound comment just humbled me… I apologise for my earlier comments about Iwobi, your mention of that freindly against Argentina tickled my memory to dilirium again… I remember it was Iwobi’s goal against a difficult Zambia side who were out to even embarrass us in our own backyard at Uyo that qualified us for that World Cup… I also remember Iwobi having a massive game in our pre-world friendly against England capping it with a goal… respects to Alex “King” Iwobi… we must continue to stand by our players! Thanks Mate…@Frank Smith!
@Jimmyball. You are a man. Respect brodaman. You see sometimes, what these players need at trying times is support and not naive/ wanton comparism. What really annoys me about some of us nigerians, is, the same Eze that has all these while being splashing mud on our faces with reckless abandon is the same we are even ridiculing our very well deserving Alexander THE KING IWOBI for. Wont discredit Eze,s quality but why compare with Iwobi. Why not just highlight Eze’s qualities and leave it at that? Just as no husband likes being compared by the wife to other husbands, so it hurts when we compare these players, worst still for a player that has dutifully/selflessly served us. Looking at Alex demeanor every time he is on everton’s shirt, tells a whole lot of things going on around him in everton and Ancellotti was only being economical in one of his statement where he said Everton,s problem is not Iwobi but the entire team. Iwobi enjoys the free spirit atmosphere when he plays but suffers when made to play under a very very controlled system. THAT IS GREATLY AFFECTING HIS CONFIDENCE AS HE IS SO SCARED OF MAKING MISTAKE, WHICH OBVIOUSLY COMES WITH SERIOUS BACKLASH. We should just allow him manage the situation while we try support him with encouraging words instead of always comparing him. God bless ALEXANDER THE KING IWOBI.
Even if we want to compare them, I will still pick iwobi 3times ahead of Eze, me I am not impressed by Eze, iwobi is faster, dribbles quickly, and passes quickly, the only thing Eze have better is deadball shooting skills. Iwobi have not been given enough trust he needs from Everton, and also there are more quality players in Everton than Chrystal palace, iwobi quality and value surpassed all Crystal palace players,
Eze tries to be classic and teknik, but he is the most timid between him and iwobi, he is still afraid to take on players and he needs a lot of time to beat one before the other, he is not proving nothing to compare him with iwobi, iwobi have had great games against big clubs in arsenal jearsey while Eze is still trying to prove something in premier league and u are here comparing, a learner to a master, I iwobi on a very good day moves. Like messi with the ball, he have some good qualities more than Jay Jay himself I don’t know why u guys are not seeing this, the guy combines well in any part of the midfield, he is not playing for Everton doesn’t change my love for him, iwobi can beat three players in a blink of an eye without even stoping the ball, Eze, okocha, and many others can’t do that they need time and some body movement to pass players, iwobi is also very generous player, he plays for the team, look at cameroun winning goal how he ran from deep to pick up that pass from ighalo to score that goal, if not rohr would have long gone if we had lost to cameron in the round 16 of afcon, and someone said he doesn’t have the stamina, before iwobi gets tired in a game do you count how many runs he has made with the ball before then, the Guy is just a gift from okocha sister to us, let us appreciate this young legend scored 10, 6 assist, already in his few games for eagles.
The only quality iwobi is lacking his is shooting skills, but he have the braveness to always shoot which helps his improvements, he is the real number ten, still ahead of the rest,
Nice one @ Collins. Just posting this video as it seems we are too quick to forget n always enjoy pressing that self destruct button. Video is majorly whilst at Everton, not even much of his arsenal days.https://youtu.be/mC-0qr0-AaQ
Even if I appreciate Eze’s skillset. He is a very good player. No cap.
But..
Iwobi is proven. Atleast with the Eagles.
There is a reason Everton paid that much for him.
This season might be bad, but quality always stand time.
My two cent; Everton style,Ancelotti style doesn’t compliment Iwobi’s fast,one-two football. He is a fish in the wrong aquarium.
Iwobi has always produced for the Eagles. Sometimes, I feel Iwobi’s versatility and meekness is his curse. Cause he is played out of position and given less time to prove his attributes;especially at clubside.
Just glad Rohr trust him and he continues to deliver.
We should not be too greedy to go for eye candy when we got honey in our mouth.
When;if , Eze chose to play for us, then we judge by his contributions for us.
Right now,I respect both men.but I see one Nigerian.
Iwobi any day. Any time.
No bias..
@JimmyBall, thank you so much for your apology and retraction of your initial comment, much respect.
There’s something you guys failed to understand about this beautiful game of football as regards Players performance viz-a-viz the quality of the team you are playing for. I have played this game, not at professional level though but High school and University level and I will explain something which you should know with my little experience.
I played for my University right from my 100 level to 300 level, I was spotted during the inter-faculty competition where I played for the College of Medicine and I shone like a million stars as a no 10 with 5 goals and 6 assists in the competition.. My team relied heavily on my skills and trickery to get to the finals of Inter-faculty competition before we lost the Finals to Faculty of Arts. However in the University team, I was always being used as a no 10 only sometimes but mostly as a winger or sometimes as a no 4 because there’s a better no 10 who is more experienced and better than me hence limited productivity compared to when playing for the Medicos.
When a good player is in a lower quality team, he becomes the star and much expectation and responsibility is placed on you, this in turn boost your confidence a great deal and a confident player will always perform creditably well. However when you are in a team filled with quality players, less responsibility and expectations dampens your confidence a bit, couple with the fact that you know one little mistake from you may cost you a spot in the starting lineup, you then play with much caution, less daring and less selfish often leading to a less significant end product.
So please let this be the last time anyone on this forum or CSN will compare Eze to Iwobi, Iwobi made a debut for Almighty Arsenal as a teenager while Eze was shipped out of same Arsenal to go and continue his development from a lower league. Eze in Crystal Palace couldn’t even shine as much as Iwobi did in Arsenal team under Wenger. And Iwobi has shone for Nigeria like a Galaxy since committing to switch his allegiance to Nigeria (Also more Patriotic than your useless Eze who chose to be a Bench warmer for U-21 team at the Age of 23).That should surely settle the debate in favour of “Alex the King”.
Guys well said, nobody doubts Iwobi’s ability or quality. I stated it above that tge guy is very talented but most here are very sentimental which is ok as he has always delivered for 9ja. Here are some questions i have for forumites
1. Are u guys not bothered/worried by the fact that Iwobi is spending too much time on Everton’s bench?
2. If he keeps spending time on the bench, do u all still expect the SE coach to continue extending invitation to him?
3 Shouldn’t club form be the criterion for national team selection or are some rules more applicable to some while not to others?
4. Has Iwobi’s crossing of the ball improved from his arsenal days to now? What about his shooting or goal contributions (1goal 2 assists in 28 PL appearances), has that improved? For his height and physique, has his heading of the ball improved? His runs and positioning in the box nko? Here are areas in my view he needs to improve, there is nothing wrong in pointing out areas where a player whom we hold very dear and high esteem should improve on.
5. Assuming Eze is a SE player, ON CURREBT FORM since they are both midfielders, would u select Iwobi ahead of Eze?
Like I said above and will reiterate, Iwobi is very talented and it hurts me deeply to see such a player struggling in small Everton. Like I also said he delivers whenever called on to the SE but needs to improve his club form, that to me is encouragement/advice. Today, football is based on stats and these clubs monitor these stats religiously and use these stats to assess whether a players contract should be renewed or not. Again, am not knocking Iwobi as I like him alot way back from his arsenal academy days, hence the reason why I am saying what am saying. No be today I don dey talk dis tin, anyway na my 2 kobo I just spend ooo. We can all agree to disagree which is fine.
It’s very embarrassing to compare iwobi and eze. What makes you believe eze will make any impact with eagles. We have seen players who have done very well with clubsides but have performed very poorly with eagles. Iwobi will bounce back.
No disrespect to iwobi….eze is far more talented in all areas. Skillful wise,shots,passing ability,free kicks. Anyone who knows football well,will pick an eze over iwobi.
People,People,People. Eze is miles ahead of Iwobi watching the game on the weekend. Eze and the ball is like sweet romance it comes naturally to him he damn well romances the ball glides through the field with Ease, where as Iwobi own looks forced. man like I said football has levels. Eze is only doing what we all knew he would when he dominated the English championship last season. Man if he chooses Nigeria it would be a blessing. Over the weekend this boy played like Cristiano Ronaldo used to in his earlier days with Man U.
God bless @ Christian Ministries Nigerian. Please ignore those demeaning questions. We are lucky to have a national team Manager that understand the difference between proven talent and potential talent. He understands this so well to even consider getting Ighalo back despite having Osimene, Onuachu, Nacho etc even when the above trio, have gone on to prove themselves capable. To be honest it’s pure waste of time talking about a player who sees himself only good for u-23 competitions. Absolute Ludacris to place such in same bracket as Iwobi. I SEE THIS AS A STRUGGLE BY SOME TO GENERATE ATTENTION TO SUCH INFINITESIMAL QUANTITY IN THE SPACE OF OUR DARLING SE. MAYBE WHEN HE STARTS PLAYING FOR SE THEN WE CAN START COMPARING OTHERWISE ITS JUST PURE WASTE WASTE WASTE OF TIME.I BOLDLY STATE EZE NEEDS NIGERIA FAR FAR MORE THAN NIGERIA NEEDS HIM TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT.
Both men are highly talented.
As Mr. Hush said – Respect to both men, but only one of them is a Nigerian at the moment.
Until Eze decides to don our jersey, he is of no use to us.
Iwobi is the one we have, and he is doing a fantastic job for us. Let us cherish him.
Ejaria and Olise will soon be joining the fold, hopefully. That will make the team stronger. If Eze joins, fine. If not, we have other talents who can do a good job.
In conclusion, Eze will be a good addition to the squad. But it is not a do or die thing. We want him, but we don’t need him.