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Glasner needs reinforcements this summer | Getty Images
Crystal Palace will have to pay big to get a transfer over the line this summer.
Crystal Palace will have to pay big money to get a transfer over the line despite talk of an agreement. The Eagles are expected to be on the offensive this summer as they look to build a squad capable of managing further progress in the Premier League while also competing in the Europa League.
A departure or two is likely at Selhurst park this summer, with Marc Guehi perhaps the most likely given his contract situation, while there is also likely to be interest in Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta. With Guehi the most likely to depart, Palace would be wise to sign a centre-back this summer, and they might want another player in that position in any case.
That got Palace fans excited on Friday, but reports in Portugal have suggested that there is a big price being demanded by Sporting, potentially putting the deal at risk. As spotted by SportWitness, A Bola have reported that Sporting will accept no less than £42.8million this summer, while Record say the price will be no less than £51.3million.
In both cases, it’s a lot of money to pay for Palace, although they will have been financially reinforced by their European qualification. They may also be planning ahead with the knowledge that Guehi will command a fee of around £60million even with his contract situation, and even if the centre-back does stay, there could be scenario where Eze or another player brings in a big fee.
Sporting have already been tough in negotiations involving Viktor Gyokeres this summer, and they are not taking up the position of a selling club, so it’s likely they will stick to their valuation of Diomandé, whichever one it is.
What Palace chief Parish has said on sales
Speaking last month to the It’s Called Soccer podcast, Palace chief Steve Parish said of the prospect of sales: “The first thing is we need to stay in the division so that's the first north star and that's obviously not easy as we can see from even Man United and Tottenham this year. They're not really close to relegation, but that's arguably because we have all taken a lot of points this year off the bottom three clubs. Anything that increases the risk of that dramatically, it's very difficult to find a way to do it.
“After that, then, of course, we will be a trading club. We want to survive and thrive in this division for two reasons: firstly because financially you have to cover the cost of running the club and, secondly, because the kind of players we want to attract, we need to show them a pathway.
“We're a destination for those great pros that have still got a massive competitive instinct, still want to do well, still want to give everything when they cross the white line but they realise they're probably not quite going to get to the level above us. Then there are players that are on a journey and on their way to the Bayern Munichs and other clubs. We realised over a period of time that we have to be really open to it.
“The thing you have to do with clubs like ours is manage that process as well as you can, so not to lose too many. I remember Sir Alex [Ferguson] used to try and bring in two players every summer. He thought any more than that was very difficult to integrate in the squad. That would be the kind of number of your real premium talent that you would be really able to deal with in any one summer so trying to time things so you can manage that is what we're trying to do.”
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