Eddie Nketiah is currently having a medical with Crystal Palace – and another player is now following the England international to Selhurst Park.
As is often the case with recruitment at Crystal Palace, Dougie Freedman has left his business late in the hope of market opportunities popping up.
That is exactly what happened when Nketiah became available after his move to Nottingham Forest collapsed – and a player Oliver Glasner knows well is now heading to Crystal Palace too…
Crystal Palace reach agreement with VfL Wolfsburg over Maxence Lacroix
Crystal Palace have now agreed a fee with VfL Wolfsburg for the signing of Maxence Lacroix.
That is according to The Athletic, Fabrizio Romano, the Mirror, the Independent, the Guardian and Florian Plettenburg of Sky Germany, who have all shared updates on the situation – the latter even adds that the defender is Glasner’s No.1 target, so the Austrian will be delighted by this breakthrough.
The Athletic specifically mentioned a fee, claiming that Crystal Palace and VfL Wolfsburg have shaken hands on a deal worth up to €21m (£17.7m) for the Frenchman, with €18m (£15.1m) of that sum guaranteed and a further €3m (£2.6m) to come in potential bonus payments.
It comes after Plettenburg claimed that Crystal Palace had already agreed personal terms with Lacroix earlier in August – so the other sticking point was to agree a fee with VfL Wolfsburg, which has now been done.
The 24-year-old will now travel to London for a medical, before putting pen to paper on the contract he has already verbally agreed.
It comes after The Athletic claimed that Crystal Palace had also agreed a £30m deal with Arsenal for Nketiah – who is undergoing his own medical as we type.
Timely arrival
Depending on how quickly a deal for Lacroix is finalised, the man from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges could go straight into Glasner’s starting XI for this Sunday’s Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Unfortunately, Chadi Riad suffered a potentially serious injury in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Norwich in the Carabao Cup, leaving the Austrian short of options at centre-back after Joachim Andersen left in a £30m move to Fulham.
Therefore, Glasner will be pleased by the timing of this agreement with VfL Wolfsburg, and having already worked with Lacroix in Germany, the 50-year-old could feel comfortable enough to throw the Frenchman straight into action this weekend.
Be sure to keep an eye on developments at Selhurst Park, as we expect Freedman to negotiate more signings once Nketiah and Lacroix arrive.
