Palace ‘turn to’ £12m Celtic forward after failing to sign Arsenal star
Crystal Palace have turned their attention to Celtic forward Odsonne Edouard with them being unable to agree a deal for Eddie Nketiah, according to reports.
The Londoners are in the market for a new striker before the transfer window shuts on Tuesday night.
They have been interested in Arsenal youngster Nketiah. He had a fruitful spell on loan at Leeds United in 2019/20.
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He finished that season as part of Arsenal’s first-team and he played 29 times for his boyhood club in 2020/21.
It was reported last week that Palace were readying a £10m bid for the Englishman.
The clubs could not agree a deal, though, and Patrick Vieira’s side are now interested in Celtic star Edouard.
The 23-year-old has scored 77 times for the Scottish side from his 150 outings across all competitions.
The Athletic have reported that Palace will pay around £12m for the forward:
The report reads: “Palace have been unable to reach an agreement for Nketiah. As reported last week, the south London club were eyeing up a deal worth £10 million for the striker. But Arsenal wanted to achieve a price of around £20 million.
“Arsenal were willing to reduce their asking price to around £15 million but Palace were reluctant to meet that.
“As a result, Palace have now switched their focus to Celtic striker Edouard. Barring a late twist, Nketiah is expected to remain at Arsenal.”
They add: “Palace have been tracking [Edouard] for some time, and their interest in him goes way back.
“It is anticipated that Palace will pay around £12 million for Edouard, representing a serious drop on what they would have had to pay for Nketiah.”
Elsewhere, Palace loanee Conor Gallagher has explained why he decided to join the club over Leeds:
“I liked what the manager Patrick Vieira was saying. I feel like it suited me very nicely and like I could express myself the best here.
“He wants me to do what I do best, which is basically all I want to hear. He knows the type of player I am. He knows that I want to get up and down the pitch and just play with freedom. That definitely helped persuade me.
“There has been a lot of tactical sessions – team-wise. I have not been here too long, but I have got the whole season to learn from him.
“Obviously he was a top player back in the day and he is a top manager as well, so I am very excited to work with him this season.”
