I know how Eberechi Eze feels: I longed to return to Arsenal from day I left

I know how Eberechi Eze feels: I longed to return to Arsenal from day I left. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.

I had fought my way through the Arsenal academy alongside the likes of Tony Adams, David Rocastle and Niall Quinn — among others — and broken into the first team but chose to join Aston Villa in 1986 after the club refused to pay me an extra £50 a week.

While I enjoyed my time at Villa, and later Everton, it was a decision I immediately regretted. My heart belonged with Arsenal and I longed to pull on that red-and-white shirt again. I had unfinished business. I was a similar age to Eze (he is 27, I was 26) when the opportunity arose in February 1993 and George Graham, who didn’t give me that improved contract all those years before, paid £2million to bring me back.

This may sound strange, but my first match back felt like an out-of-body experience. It also didn’t help that Wimbledon were our opponents. I’d already played them five times in all competitions that season, including my final match for Everton. It was tough enough having to take on the “Crazy Gang” once!

The pressure of the price tag, the desire to prove yourself, the fulfilment of a long-held dream: Eze will be battling all those emotions when he takes to the field for the first time as an Arsenal player at Anfield on Sunday. If he can keep those in check, I have little doubt he can hit the ground running.

I was incredibly impressed when I met him a couple of years ago at Crystal Palace’s training ground while visiting my former team-mate Patrick Vieira, the manager at the time. Eze had been in and out of the team and we were discussing the mentality you need to have a successful career. I recalled some advice Graham Taylor had given me at Villa, that no matter what club you play for, you have to make your mark. You want to be the kind of player that is remembered long after they have left. I always trained like I played because I did not want to waste a single day of what is a short career.

Eze is not going to be forgotten at Selhurst Park in a hurry. He departs as the match-winner in the FA Cup final and with a Community Shield medal. He’s got that taste for trophies and his aim now has to be to become an all-time great at Arsenal.

This is the perfect time for him to join. After winning the Double in 1998 we had to endure three seasons of watching other teams lift the pots and party on open-top buses. We were runners-up to Manchester United in the league from 1999 to 2001 and were beaten finalists in the Uefa Cup and FA Cup.

Deep down you know you are only one step from success but at the same time it feels like you are a million miles away. The hunger grows, the anger boils within and there is an obsession to become a winner once more. That is how this Arsenal group will feel.

Eze is a major piece in Mikel Arteta’s jigsaw. He is a game-changer. At times over the past three years Arsenal have been a bit predictable but in Eze they have a player who takes risks and finds solutions. He can see a pass. He has an eye for goal. If defenders sit off, he is not afraid to hit it from distance with that crisp, powerful shot.

There were some great pictures from Eze’s first training session laughing and joking with Declan Rice and I expect to see that joy and freedom of expression in his game.

As debuts go, Liverpool is the ultimate test. When I played, United were our main rivals but I never found Old Trafford as tricky as Anfield. It is the most atmospheric ground in English football and defending in front of the Kop — it felt as if the fans were sucking the ball towards the goal.

There have been grumbles about the fixture list but this is a good time to be playing Liverpool. Their new-look defence is still getting up to speed and in the first two matches we have seen the impact of losing a world-class right back in Trent Alexander-Arnold. In two matches Liverpool’s opponents have swung in 45 crosses and there has been a heavy reliance on Virgil van Dijk — who remains immense — to clear the danger.

Dominik Szoboszlai filled in at right back on Monday and I actually think Newcastle United missed a trick by not playing a different false nine and letting Anthony Gordon have a run at him.

There can be no complaints about injuries. Arsenal will be without Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and possibly Martin Odegaard but reinforcements — including Eze — have given Arteta a much more powerful squad.

For Arsenal to win at Anfield this weekend they have to play like champions. Even after we had won titles, Manchester United would still turn up with that air of authority. They had belief, togetherness and swagger that this Arsenal team need to capture. Fear is an emotion that cannot exist.

Liverpool’s press may not be as aggressive as it was under Jürgen Klopp but they will go after you and test you. Arsenal must play with the assurance that they can handle the ball and beat the press. Do that and they can isolate the full backs and get at them.

Whatever the result, it is of course far too early to pass judgment. When Arsenal beat Manchester City in October 2023, many were hailing it as a changing of the guard… only for Pep Guardiola to clinch the title by two points. A statement victory on Sunday — allied with a statement performance — will nonetheless fuel Arsenal’s belief that this can finally be their year.

Listen to Martin Keown every other Monday on talkSPORT with White and Jordan from 10am

Liverpool v Arsenal

Premier League Anfield

Sunday, 4.30pm

TV Sky Sports Main Event