Now that we have some distance from the transfer window, it would be fair to say Arsenal did some brilliant business.
The Gunners have improved Mikel Arteta’s backline options, brought in a new striker and bolstered the wide options.
However, arguably the most exciting deal the club pulled off was the signing of Eberechi Eze, who could add goals and assists from out wide or attacking midfield.
The Englishman has been given the number ten shirt to reflect his importance to the project, although while he’ll likely enjoy a stellar career with Arsenal, the club are already brewing the player who’ll one day take that famous number from him.
Arsenal's recent tens
So with Eze being Arsenal’s new number ten, it’s worth looking back at the last three players to have that honour, starting with the man who had it before the summer signing: Emile Smith Rowe.
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The former Gunners star is a Hale End graduate who made his first appearance for the club back in the 18/19 season, but really came to prominence alongside Saka in the 20/21 and 21/22 seasons, when the club finally started to pull themselves out of years of decline.
The Croydon-born fan favourite was handed the covered shirt number in the summer of 2022, when he put pen to paper, but due to injuries and the team’s subsequent development, he was unable to make much of it, eventually leaving for Fulham last summer.
The player who wore the number before him was the utterly world-class Mesut Özil, who had it from July 2018 to his exit in January 2021.
While the end of his Arsenal career was less than ideal, the German international remains one of the greatest players to represent the club in the Emirates era, racking up a sensational haul of 44 goals and 77 assists in 254 games.
Lastly, the player to have the shirt prior to the World Cup winner was boyhood fan Jack Wilshere.
At one point, the Englishman was looked at as one of the most exciting talents in the country, but a non-stop slew of injuries utterly derailed his career, and by the time he left the club in 2018, he had amassed 197 appearances, in which he scored 14 goals and provided 28 assists.
Overall, Arsenal have had some brilliant players wear the number ten for them over the years, and while Eze looks ready to do it proud, there is already an academy star who looks next in line.
The Arsenal gem who'll wear the ten after Eze
Given the stature of some of the players who have worn the ten for Arsenal and the ability someone would need to join them, it’ll probably come as no surprise that the youngster we are talking about is Max Dowman.
The Hale End superstar is still just 15 years old, but it is hard to think of another youngster from the club who has been spoken about in the same way he has been, and still is, not even Ethan Nwaneri.
For example, respected talent scout Jacek Kulig made the incredibly bold claim that the youngster is the “most exciting prospect” he has seen “since Lamine Yamal.”
Appearances
23
Minutes
1945′
Goals
19
Assists
5
Goal Involvements per Match
1.04
Minutes per Goal Involvement
81.04′
That might sound ridiculous, but his number from last season – when he was still just 14 until New Year’s Eve – suggests it’s not, as in just 23 appearances, totalling 1945 minutes, he scored 19 goals and provided five assists.
In other words, the Chelmsford-born gem averaged 1.04 goal involvements per match, or one every 81.04 minutes, which is made all the more impressive when you consider those games were against U18 and U21 sides.
Moreover, it’s not just youth football where he’s making a splash now; he’s also impressed the senior team this year.
For example, in his first competitive game of adult football, which was also his Premier League debut, the teenage sensation made a mockery of Leeds United’s defence and ended up winning a penalty.
Then, as the team searched for an equaliser away to Liverpool, Arteta turned to the 15-year-old and not to his other, more senior options on the bench.
Finally, in the game last night, there was a moment in which he played an exceptional ball over the top of the Port Vale defence that Viktor Gyokeres really should have scored from.
In short, the Hale Ender looks to be the “insane” talent analyst Ben Mattinson claims he is, and while he has primarily played out wide for the senior side, much of his junior football has seen him play in midfield, in the ten position.
Ultimately, nobody is going to be taking Eze’s shirt from him for some time, but given his age and Dowmans, plus the rate at which he’s developing, there is every chance that the youngster will be Arsenal’s next number ten.