Crystal Palace have now agreed a £52m fee with Chelsea for the signing of Maxence Lacroix.
It is a relatively low sum when you consider how much other centre-backs have moved for earlier this summer. Brighton paid £46m for the 19-year-old Luka Vuskovic while Liverpool spent £60m on the 20-year-old Jeremy Jacquet.
Nevertheless, it represents a substantial profit on the £18m spent to sign Lacroix from VfL Wolfsburg in August 2024, and the agreement also makes the Frenchman the second-biggest sale in the history of Crystal Palace.
Lacroix to Chelsea is IMMINENT 🚨
Thoughts, Palace fans? 🤔
Where Maxence Lacroix ranks in list of Crystal Palace sales
Only the £67.5m departure of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal ranks higher than Lacroix’s £52m move to Chelsea.
- Eberechi Eze to Arsenal (£67.5m)
- Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea (£52m)
- Michael Olise to Bayern Munich (£50.8m)
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United (£50m)
- Joachim Andersen to Fulham (£30m)
- Yannick Bolasie to Everton (£25m)
- Marc Guehi to Manchester City (£20m)
- Alexander Sorloth to RB Leipzig (£20m)
As you can see, the France international has now sandwiched himself in between the Arsenal No.10 and Michael Olise on the list, the latter of whom left for Bayern Munich in a £50.8m switch back in July 2024.
It narrowly surpasses the £50m Manchester United paid Crystal Palace to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka in July 2019.
Those deals are by far the largest sales in Crystal Palace’s history, with the next most lucrative exit being the £30m departure of Joachim Andersen to Fulham in August 2024.
Prior to that, Everton’s £25m signing of Yannick Bolasie in August 2016 was our record sale for a number of years, before other clubs started to sit up and take notice of Dougie Freedman’s exquisite recruitment work following his return to SE25 as Director of Football in August 2017.
As aforesaid, £52m feels a tad disappointing for Lacroix, but that £18m move was an overriding success whatever way you look at it.
The former Sochaux star helped us win three trophies in his two seasons at Selhurst Park, created a formidable bond with the fanbase and leaves on good terms with £34m banked in profit.
Are you worried about our (lack of) transfer activity? 🤔
As long as Matt Hobbs replaces Lacroix properly, it will prove to be superb business.
