Remaining patient has been a recurring theme throughout Eze's career ever since he was released by Arsenal at 13 and then rejected by several other clubs before finding a home at Queens Park Rangers. Yet having made an immediate impression after a 67.5m dream move back to his boyhood club from Crystal Palace that peaked with a memorable hat-trick against Tottenham at the end of November, the goals have dried up completely as Mikel Arteta has seemingly lost faith in the England forward.
Michael Bent's Ireland career ended in the same manner that it had started 10 years earlier. Initially parachuted into the squad from left-field, or the family farm in New Zealand to be precise, Bent (who qualified to play for Ireland through his Dublin-born grandmother) later came full circle when he was again called up out of the blue - this time on home soil during Ireland's 2022 summer tour.
