Crystal Palace now have an additional £52m in the bank after agreeing a deal with Chelsea for Maxence Lacroix.
It seems a relatively low fee considering some other moves that have already happened this summer, such as Liverpool’s £60m signing of an inexperienced 20-year-old defender in Jeremy Jacquet.
Matt Hobbs – Sporting Director at Selhurst Park – already has plans of how to spend a portion of that £52m fee, as Florian Plettenburg now claims that an improved bid is set to be made for Chrislain Matsima. Us here at We are Palace can’t say we approve of the idea, in all honesty.
Lacroix to Chelsea is IMMINENT 🚨
Thoughts, Palace fans? 🤔
Crystal Palace at risk of overspending on Chrislain Matsima
Having seen an opening offer worth €20m (£17m) rejected by Augsburg, Crystal Palace are now set to make an improved bid for the centre-back.
Plettenburg – a reporter for Sky Germany – also reiterated a story Foot Mercato broke on Wednesday, which stated that Matsima has already agreed personal terms with Crystal Palace.
In our view, anything over £20m for the Augsburg No.5 would be a waste of money.
Considering Pierre Sage already has Chadi Riad, Jaydee Canvot and Chris Richards to make up his back three, Crystal Palace only really need to find a backup option who can step in for one of the trio should they be absent for any reason.
Oscar Mingueza can play in the centre of defence, as can Jefferson Lerma, while the Eagles also have two young, talented centre-backs in George King and Charlie Walker-Smith, the latter of whom has been likened to Declan Rice.
So, with seven options already at Selhurst Park in the centre-back department, it feels like we could put the cash to better use should the fee for Matsima end up surpassing £20m.
Augsburg only signed the 24-year-old for a sum of just €5m (£4m) from Monaco last summer.
One season in the Bundesliga – in which he missed 15 games through injury – does not feel enough to justify Crystal Palace spending over four times that amount on his signature this summer.
Are you worried about our (lack of) transfer activity? 🤔
