Crystal Palace News: Player’s situation worsens after delay in Crystal Palace transfer
Towards the end of the window, Crystal Palace gambled with Hugo Ekitike and offered him a loan with a €35m option to join
PSG. The Ligue 1 giants turned him down as they were still trying to close a deal with Frankfurt to buy Kolo Muani from Eintracht. They hoped to use Ekitike, 21, to reduce the price tag, but that never happened. Ekitike turned down the chance to join the Bundesliga side, and some reports suggested that he preferred a move to Palace, which did not go down well. According to L’Equipe, Ekitike will now pay the price for his behaviour. On Wednesday, it was reported that Ekitike and Marco Verratti will not be part of PSG’s squad for the Champions League, but the situation could worsen for the youngster.
Recalling that Paris Saint-Germain turned down the loan offer from Crystal Palace, L’Equipe believe that this decision to leave him out of the European competition is a ‘punishment’ for his ‘refusal to leave the club’ this summer in the dying hours of the transfer window.
By doing so, he nearly made the Kolo Muani deal collapse, and those in charge of the Ligue 1 side ‘resent’ Ekitike for that.
Then again, L’Equipe do point out that no one forced them to loan then purchase the youngster and give him a five-year contract, and their decision to include him in a deal without talking to him about it ‘can also explain his desire to stand up’ to the board.
Now he is paying the price for his omission from the Champions League squad, but there is also a good chance that he will be ruled out of the league altogether, as evidenced by his omission from the 4-1 defeat to Lyon on Saturday.
