Eberechi Eze has emerged as the heartbeat of Crystal Palace’s fairy tale, scoring in the quarter final at Fulham and again in the semi final to push the club within touching distance of a first major trophy.
Beyond goals his willingness to drop deep, demand possession, and set the tempo has lifted teammates’ confidence, a trait manager Oliver Glasner credits with transforming the squad’s mindset.
Eze’s leadership extends off the pitch where he organises team dinners and maintains a daily dialogue with academy prospects, reinforcing a culture of unity that older Palace sides sometimes lacked.
Those qualities shone under the arch against Aston Villa when, moments before kick off, he gathered colleagues in a tight circle and delivered an impromptu speech later described by Ismaïla Sarr as goose-bump inducing.
The midfielder has already attracted transfer speculation, but he reiterates that lifting the Cup with Palace would carry more meaning than individual accolades or moves abroad.
For supporters who watched him weave past Villa defenders or fire home at Stockport in January, Eze now represents destiny as much as talent, the symbol of a club writing history in real time.
