Crystal Palace ‘pushing’ to secure transfer – Ready to go ‘all in’ but need more
Crystal Palace could miss out on Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho with the Premier League outfit not yet meeting the £18 million asking price required for the Nigeria international.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s Carabao Cup hat-trick away at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night may have been a welcome boost to Roy Hodgson, but it’s still unlikely to sate his demands for attacking reinforcements before this week’s deadline.
Mateta, like fellow Home Park goalscorer Odsonne Edouard, remain maddeningly inconsistent at Premier League level. Then again, you could level the same accusations at the man Crystal Palace are ‘pushing’ to bring in from Leicester City. Kelechi Iheanacho, at his best, is a joy to watch. A bundle of energy, skill and guile.
At his worst, however, he is more wasteful than wonderful. In the last two top-flight seasons combined, Iheanacho scored only nine times, five of those coming in 2022/23 as Leicester finished in the relegation zone.
Crystal Palace struggling to agree Kelechi Iheanacho deal
A strong start to the new Championship campaign, however, has emboldened Leicester to demand £18 million for the one-time Manchester City starlet. Crystal Palace, Sky reporter Florian Plettenberg explains, are willing to pay somewhere between £10 to £15 million however, and while Iheancho is enthused by the idea of a switch to Selhurst Park discussions between the two clubs are understood to be ‘stalling’.
The good news, for Palace, is that Hodgson has a relatively free run at Iheanacho. Fellow suitors Everton are likely to be out of contention after signing Beto from Udinese for around £25 million earlier this week.
“We have been eager to strengthen our striking options to add more attacking quality to our squad,” Toffees boss Sean Dyche explains to the Liverpool Echo. “And the arrival of Beto gives us that.
“He has impressed in a top league like Serie A for the past two seasons and scored goals.
“As a powerful striker who can carry the ball, hold up play, is strong in the air, and works hard for the team, he has a lot of attributes that we hope can see him prove to be a success with Everton.”
CRYSTAL PALACE NOW LIKELY TO KEEP HOLD OF MIDFIELDER, RIVALS RELUCTANT TO PAY £70M FEE
There is now a good chance of Crystal Palace retaining midfielder Cheick Doucoure despite interest from Liverpool.
According to the Evening Standard, Crystal Palace are increasingly likely to keep hold of Cheick Doucoure.
The outlet claims that Liverpool have been put off by Palace’s £70m valuation of the 23-year-old and have no intention of making a formal offer for him.
The Reds recently signed Wataru Endo from Stuttgart, but Jurgen Klopp still looks to be in the market for a new midfielder after missing out on both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, who are now at Chelsea.
However, it now seems unlikely that Doucoure will be the man who the German brings in.
Cheick Doucoure staying is a major boost
Roy Hodgson will be delighted if Palace manage to keep hold of Doucoure, which looks like the most likely outcome at this moment in time.
They lost Wilfried Zaha earlier in the summer, so to watch another important player like Doucoure depart would have been a huge setback, especially with it being so late in the transfer window. The south London club would have been scrambling around for a replacement.
Fortunately for Hodgson, though, it seems his bosses have done enough to deter Premier League rivals Liverpool.
At one point, it looked like Palace would have a terrible transfer window. However, while Zaha has departed, they have at least been able to get Michael Olise to stay and sign a new contract, and Doucoure will not be going anywhere either by the sound of things.
With the market not actually shut yet, anything can happen. But you would expect Palace to get to the other side now with Doucoure still on their books. Liverpool are clearly not interested in paying £70m for the Mali international, regardless of how much they need another midfielder.
