Jamie Carragher admits mistake over Arsenal star who can win them the Premier League

Jamie Carragher admits he got it badly wrong over Arsenal star Eberechi Eze (Picture: Sky Sports)

Jamie Carragher admits he underestimated Eberechi Eze and believe he is the player who can fire Arsenal to the Premier League title after his hat-trick in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Tottenham .

Having come close to joining Spurs in the summer , before Mikel Arteta intervened and brought the England international back to his boyhood club,it was perhaps written in the starts that Eze would make a decisive contribution against Spurs.

In the absence of skipper Martin Odegaard , the 27-year-old was handed the opportunity to flourish in his preferred No.10 role and he repaid Arteta’s faith with a stunning all-round display, regardless of his ruthless finishing.

Arsenal invested heavily in their squad over the course of the transfer window with the likes of Martin Zubimendi , Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke all representing headline grabbing additions.

Carragher, however, felt Eze was destined to play a supporting role behind Odegaard but on the evidence of Sunday’s man of the match performance he confessed he may well have got it wrong.

He said: ‘When Eze came in, I thought, okay, maybe it’s not a game changer.

‘And Les [Ferdinand] knows him a lot better than me. He still said earlier on the show, there’s still more to come. But then we still seen some of his highlights this season.

Eberechi Eze stole the show on Sunday (Picture: Getty)

Piero Hincapie delivered an assured performance in his first league start (Picture: Getty)

Wilson Odobert struggled down the Spurs left (Picture: Getty)

‘There were still a few great goals in there, and then he goes and scores a hat-trick. So apologies.

‘I 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.

‘And apart from the sort of skill he’s scoring the goals and his overall contribution to the game.’

Arsenal’s matchwinner, meanwhile, could hardly believe the perfect day he had envisaged and prayed for had come to be.

Eberechi Eze said his second goal was his favourite of his three against Tottenham (Credits: REUTERS)

He said: ‘That is crazy. Special day man. Special day for me, my family.

‘I don’t think I could’ve ever dreamt of it. This is more special than that. I can only thank God. Special day, man.

‘We were prepared for whatever set up they were coming with because of the diligence of our staff. Huge credit to them. And of course the players in our team, the ability, the talent, from whatever angle we’re threatening to score goals.

‘Good performance, good three points and a special day.