£48 million-rated star reveals Sunderland turned down chance to sign him as a teenager

Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze has revealed that Sunderland have previously turned down the chance to sign him as a youngster before his move to Queens Park Rangers, where his form at Loftus Road saw the Eagles shell out a reported £17 million fee for the attacking midfielder back in 2020.

Since his move to Selhurst Park, the exciting winger has established himself as one of the most promising attacking talents in the league and has been touted with a big-money move away from Palace in the summer as clubs like Manchester City and Spurs are said to be tracking Eze, with the 25-year-old now worth just shy of £50 million according to transfermarkt.com. The Englishman has registered 37 goal contributions in 119 games for Palace, and recently scored in a surprise 1-0 victory at Anfield against title-chasing Liverpool.

Eze has two England caps to his name and his form this season has put himself in serious contention for a spot in Gareth Southgate’s squad this summer, but his journey to top-flight stardom has not been an easy one due to the many rejections and releases he suffered as a youngster from a plethora of top clubs.

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The former Hoops star has stated that the Black Cats were one of six sides to reject him before his move to QPR where he made his breakthrough. In an interview clip circulating social media on Tuesday, Greenwich-born ace Eze said: “I decided to go to Arsenal, I was there for maybe five years, played there and then got released. “

“Went to Fulham, for two and a half years or so, got released from there. Went to Reading for half a year, got released from there. Then I went to Millwall for my scholarship, so I was there for two years then got released from there. Went on trial to a few teams afterwards, went to Sunderland, went to Bristol City didn’t get in there, then thankfully to God got signed by QPR.”