Crystal Palace close on blockbuster deal as colossal agreement is reached for Man City, Tottenham target

Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze is closing in on his bumper new £100,000-per-week deal that will end up disappointing the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham. 

Eze initially joined Crystal Palace from fellow London side QPR in August 2020 for a fee in the region of £17million but that deal is set to run out in just over 18 months, with the Croydon-team outfit eager to tie the 25-year-old down to a six-digit deal in keeping with the top two earners currently at the club.

The England international, who has been capped twice by Gareth Southgate, is now in his fourth season at Palace where he has made 93 appearances and has scored 16 goals, whilst assisting on 12 occasions in the Premier League.

TEAMtalk has already reported that Pep Guardiola is a huge admirer of Eze, with the Spaniard being heavily interested as recently as the summer. However, City ended up signing Jeremy Doku from Rennes and Matheus Nunes from Wolves to compete for midfield spots instead.

Palace teammate Michael Olise was the subject of firm interest from free-spending Chelsea in the summer, where he had spent seven years in their youth system.

Indeed, a return looked all but done at one point before it was announced that the France youth international had made a dramatic U-turn and committed to a new four-year contract in South London.

And the Eagles have seemingly learned from that debacle and avoiding a transfer saga for their star man would be wise.

Eze ‘agreement in principle’ already in place

The Daily Mail understands that a new contract is close for Eze, with fresh terms having reportedly been agreed for the attacking midfielder. Indeed, it’s only the formalities that need to be concluded.

This would reportedly make him the joint-highest earner at the club alongside Olise and Dean Henderson and would be a huge jump from the £30,000-per-week contract he is currently on.

City, Tottenham and Newcastle are all said to have long-term interest in the player but a new contract would deter any interest from them, at least for the immediate future.

Guardiola already has a plethora of attacking options, namely the aforementioned Doku, Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva all vying for places just behind the goal machine that is Erling Haaland, not to mention Kevin de Bruyne who will return from injury in late December.

With that being said, Eze would struggle for regular minutes in Manchester.

The Englishman played in all 38 of Palace’s Premier League games last season and is a nailed-on starter for the Eagles when fit, something which wouldn’t be guaranteed at City.

Having missed out on James Maddison to Spurs, Newcastle are looking to bolster their forward options and Eze would fit the bill. Harvey Barnes and Elliot Anderson’s injuries have meant that Anthony Gordon has played the bulk of the minutes on the left flank and with Sandro Tonali out of action for at least 10 months, a spot in the midfield is there for the taking.

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Tottenham remain fans of Palace man

Tottenham, meanwhile, have started life under Ange Postecoglou well and adding Eze to their attacking ranks wouldn’t be something they would turn down.

Injuries are also starting to stack up for the north London side, with Manor Solomon out until at least February while Richralison is also taking a break from the game.

So while Spurs cannot be ruled out, Eze’s new contract is likely to have certain clauses which would allow him to seek an exit should those conditions be met.

Palace currently sit 11th in the Premier League table with Eze recently returning from a hamstring injury in a 2-0 away victory at Burnley, a game in which he laid on an assist for the second goal from Tyrick Mitchell.

This injury meant he missed three consecutive matches in the Premier League, where Palace only picked up one point and scored just once in his absence.

But, with the Premier League’s biggest clubs circling the 25-year-old for a move in January, Palace must tie Eze down on this contract as quickly as possible.

Indeed, there is no argument that they would be significantly weaker without him and are not guaranteed to be able to find a suitable replacement in a such short period.

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