Arsenal’s pain after signing injured player as Eze learns his own fate | Football | Sport

Arsenal were previously left regretting signing Kim Kallstrom after the player was diagnosed with a broken back. Thankfully 11 years on from that deal, the Gunners can breathe a sigh of relief as Eberechi Eze looks to have passed his medical ahead of his £67.5million move from Crystal Palace.

It’s not always been smooth sailing when it comes to Arsenal medicals, as evidenced by their decision to proceed with the signing of Kallstrom despite discovering the Swede had a fractured vertebrae. Back in early 2014, when Arsene Wenger’s side, who were challenging for the title, were hit by a series of injuries. Key players such as Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey were out of action, while Mathieu Flamini was serving a suspension. This led Arsenal to delve into the transfer market just before the January deadline.

Kallstrom, then 31 and playing for Spartak Moscow, seemed like a sensible choice at the time. After agreeing to a loan deal until the end of the season, Kallstrom underwent a medical, which he technically passed.

However, it later transpired that Kallstrom’s fitness check should not have been approved due to a back injury he sustained while playing beach football during a warm-weather training trip with Spartak in Abu Dhabi. As a result, he was unable to play for the first six weeks of his Arsenal career, by which point Flamini was back in action.

This meant that the last-minute deal Arsenal decided to go through with turned out to be a regrettable one, as Kallstrom failed to provide the short-term solution they needed. He went on to make just three Premier League outings for the Gunners, with the acquisition ultimately becoming an embarrassment for the club.

Wenger revealed he contemplated abandoning the transfer upon learning of his back problem, but maintained it was a matter of needs must. The Frenchman said: “I’m sure that, if you’ve played football, you might have played with a micro fracture of a vertebra without knowing you had it. You don’t even notice it.

“It crossed my mind [not to complete the deal], but I would not have signed him if we’d had two or three more days to do something. It was 5pm on Friday night, so it was sign him or nobody. Spartak are paying his wages for the first six weeks. We thought it would be four to six weeks.

“There is a possibility for every single player that they will not play but there’s also the chance he scores a winning goal that’s vitally important. We will only know if we’re wrong or right at the end of the season.”

No such concerns exist regarding Eze – a statement acquisition for the Gunners, who gazumped north London rivals Tottenham to secure the Eagles’ attacking midfielder. His capture will elevate Arsenal‘s summer expenditure to £260m.

Fabrizio Romano reported on X on Saturday morning that all paperwork has been finalised for Eze to join Arsenal, off the back of his medical on Friday, indicating he must have passed his tests. The former Arsenal youth player will be thrilled to start the next chapter of his career at his childhood club.

When asked if he now has the most complete squad in his nearly seven-year tenure, head coach Mikel Arteta said: “In terms of numbers and quality, yes for sure. When you shake the tree and bring in more players, there are always things that can happen.

“The spirit of that is to be more competitive, to be better and learn from the past, and with the squad we had last year we made life very, very difficult for ourselves if you look at the size and depth of other squads and the resources they had.

“So, we all have big smiles on our faces with the understanding that we have done really well, but the market is not closed and we have to stay very alert because there are a lot of things that can happen still. But so far, so good.”