Crystal Palace are strongly expected to complete further business before the transfer window ends on Friday 30th August.
A number of names have been mentioned as potential arrivals – such as Maxence Lacroix, Robin Gosens, Rayan Cherki and Eddie Nketiah.
In fact, Florian Plettenburg of Sky Germany even hinted that Crystal Palace have agreed a deal to sign Lacroix from VfL Wolfsburg.
Now – however – Crystal Palace have put themselves in pole position to sign a different player…
Crystal Palace lead race to sign Carney Chukwuemeka
A story from The Sun now states that Crystal Palace are front of the queue to sign Carney Chukwuemeka.
It is said that Barcelona are also keen to sign the England U21 international – who Chelsea bought from Aston Villa in a £20m deal back in August 2022.
However, The Sun explain that Chukwuemeka’s £115,000-a-week wages are proving to be a stumbling block, despite the fact Chelsea would be willing to lower their £40m asking price, or even loan the attacking midfielder out for the 2024/25 campaign.
The 20-year-old only made two Premier League starts for Chelsea last season, scoring one goal while also providing one assist.
Chukwuemeka is seeing his career stall at Chelsea right now – like many are amidst a truly bizarre approach to recruitment – although he is still a top talent, one who has even been described as a mixture of Andres Iniesta and Paul Pogba, which speaks volumes about his ability.
Balance is needed
As we keep saying here on We Are Palace, balance is needed in the quest to find Michael Olise’s replacement.
Two right-footed attacking midfielders in Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada looked a little awkward in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat against Brentford, but behind those two, Oliver Glasner does not actually have a left-footed No.10 to call upon, after we loaned Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to Sheffield United.
Therefore, someone like Rayan Cherki – who L’Equipe believe Crystal Palace are keen to sign – would make more sense than Chukwuemeka, even more so seeing as the Lyon No.18 is available for just £13m.
Be sure to keep an eye on developments at Selhurst Park, as we expect a new attacker to arrive.
