£77m-rated Premier League man talks Sunderland and Bristol City transfer rejection

Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze has discussed his journey through football - including rejections from Sunderland and Bristol City.

Eze joined Crystal Palace from Queens Park Rangers in a £16million transfer three years ago and has gone from strength to strength in the Premier League and is now rated as worth a whopping £77million by some outlets.

Sunderland, however, said no to Eberechi Eze in 2016 while the attacker was on trial at the Academy of Light before he joined QPR and eventually earned the move to Crystal Palace. Sunderland were one of three clubs to turn down an opportunity to sign the then-18-year-old.

The former Arsenal and Fulham youth player followed his brief spell at Sunderland with a stint at Bristol City before being released. Time at Swansea City followed before Eze then joined QPR on a permanent deal.

Talking about his early career, Eze said: “I decided to go Arsenal. I was there for maybe five years, played there 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 went to Millwall for my scholar, so 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. Got released. Well, not released, but didn’t get in.”

Eze was also a teammate of current stand-in Sunderland captain Luke O'Nien during a six-month loan stint at Wycombe Wanderers during the 2017-18 season.