Oliver Glasner and Mikel Arteta at Emirates Stadium.placeholder image
Oliver Glasner and Mikel Arteta at Emirates Stadium. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Crystal Palace may need to replace one of their key men this summer
It has been a very confusing summer at Crystal Palace. The Eagles won the FA Cup in May and followed that up with Community Shield victory on penalties over Liverpool in what is probably the greatest period in the club’s history.
But this has been overshadowed by off-field matters, as the club lost a hearing with UEFA over being demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League due to multi-club ownership issues. Despite this, Palace will still be competing in a major European competition for the first time ever this season and there is a feeling that the club could still reach the next level.
This could depend largely on who they can keep hold of this summer. They have retained manager Oliver Glasner and the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta and Adam Wharton are most likely to remain at Selhurst Park this summer despite interest. The question marks surround Eberechi Eze, who has been targeted by both north London clubs throughout the window, and Marc Guehi, who is out of contract next summer and appears no closer to signing a new deal.
Crystal Palace line up Arsenal man as Guehi replacement
It is more than possible that Guehi will depart the club in this window, amidst reports from Sky Sports that Liverpool have entered talks with Palace over a deal for the England international. But they are wary of overpaying for a player in the final year of his contract, so they may require the Eagles to drop their £40million asking price towards the end of the window.
Should their club captain leave, Palace have reportedly identified a potential replacement in Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior, according to reports. The 25-year-old is believed to be disillusioned by limited first-team opportunities at the Emirates and has often been used as a rotation option or utility man by Mikel Arteta. Kiwior may, therefore, be open to the move, though Arsenal are not rushed to sell and will ensure they receive what they feel to be a fair market value for the Poland international, reportedly just over £30million.
The report continues that Kiwior has other potential suitors in Italy such as Inter Milan and Juventus, while it can be argued that the Eagles would give him the best chance of regular first-team football. The draw of playing in Europe could also help Palace secure their man in what is an exciting period for the club, while the Gunners will hope agreeing a deal could give them better prospects of landing Eze in return.
‘He’s always there’ - Arteta speaks on Kiwior’s role
In January, Arteta said on the Polish defender: “The ideal position for Jakub is left-central defender, that’s key. And as well with the amount of changes that we have to do in the front area, the attacking midfielder area, full-back area, he hasn’t found the consistency that he had for that period of time [this time last year]. But he will play games and he’s played games and I’m very happy with him because he’s a player that, the way he looks after everybody, the way he trains and when you need him, he’s always there. There’s very few in the squad that are like this, so I really value having Jakub in the squad.”
Guehi has become accustomed to playing on the left of a back three for Palace and has played left in a two in the past. Glasner will hope that Kiwior could fill the captain’s role in the side seamlessly as the Eagles dream of having another season to remember.
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