Jamie Carragher issues apology for undervaluing importance of 27-year-old Arsenal star after watching him shine in 4-1 win vs Spurs

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has apologised for undervaluing the signing of Eberechi Eze at Arsenal. He believes that the former Crystal Palace star can be the 'real difference' for the Gunners and help them win the Premier League title this season.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the North London Derby, Carragher said that he was unsure about the signings made by Mikel Arteta. He admitted that the views were marred by his Liverpool connection, and he did not see the impact the signings would make at the Emirates. He said (via GOAL):

"I must be honest, I think in the summer when Arsenal signed him and I had my Liverpool hat on and I looked at the signings Arsenal made and besides [Victor] Gyokeres, it felt a lot of them were to strengthen the squad really. So where Arsenal had problems the year before was when Saka was out, so they bought Madueke. Odegaard was out, they got Eze."

"One of the centre-backs was missing so they got another couple of centre-backs. It was only really Gyokeres you felt was going to go into the team and if I’m being honest, I think if Havertz was 100 per cent fit, Havertz would have probably been the centre-forward in this team."

Issuing an apology for his comments on the signing of Eze, he added:

"So when Eze came in, I thought 'OK maybe it’s not a game-changer' and Les [Ferdinand] knows him a lot better than me and he still said earlier in the show that there’s still more to come. But we are still seeing some of his highlights this season, a few great goals in there and then he goes and gets a hat-trick. So, apologies. I’ve certainly undervalued the importance of that signing because he looks like he could make the real difference for Arsenal this season and going on to win the title."

Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick as the Gunners ran out 4-1 winners against Tottenham. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring for Mikel Arteta's side, while Richarlison scored the lone goal for Spurs.

Eberechi Eze snubbed Tottenham to join Arsenal

Eberechi Eze admitted earlier this season that he was close to joining Tottenham before he made a call to join Arsenal. The Englishman was determined to join the Gunners, the side that had released him as a teenager.

Arteta revealed the call took place and said (via GOAL):

"That shows you how much he wanted to come. It's very different sometimes because you want to be very open and transparent with the players as they have to make decisions in their careers but I'm delighted to have him. I'm delighted to have him, I can tell how much it means to him and his whole family."

Arteta's side paid £60 million to sign the midfielder from Crystal Palace. He has scored four Premier League goals in 10 matches and once in the two Carabao Cup games.