Crystal Palace are now fearing the worst after Everton made contact in the race to sign a key defensive target ahead of the summer transfer window.
Oliver Glasner: Crystal Palace have regained "confidence"
From Marc Guehi's departure and the Jean-Philippe Mateta saga which ended with the Frenchman staying put in South London, to Oliver Glasner's feud with his own fanbase, it has been a torrid start to the year for Crystal Palace.
After advancing in the Europa Conference League, however, things are beginning to look up. And despite facing backlash from those at Selhurst Park, Glasner believes that his side have regained some much-needed "confidence" as of late.
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The Austrian told reporters: "It’s a long week. On the other side, it’s a short week when you have three games.
"You can talk about everything, you can train everything, but the most important thing for getting confidence and getting belief, especially back, is to win games, and this is what we did now twice.
"These two wins helped us and will help us to gain confidence again, and we need confidence at Old Trafford. They are on a good run."
The Eagles will need all the confidence they can get when they travel to Old Trafford on Sunday. Manchester United have been transformed under Michael Carrick, who is yet to lose a game as interim boss, and are a far cry from the pushovers that they were under Ruben Amorim.
Victory would justify Glasner's belief that confidence has been restored, but Palace could still do with some positive news away from the pitch ahead of a busy summer.
Crystal Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish and former player Mark Bright Related
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On that front, the South London club have been linked with moves for the likes of Robbie Keane to replace Glasner at the end of the season. If it is to be the former Tottenham Hotspur man, though, then he may have to prepare himself for an instant transfer blow.
As reported by Africa Foot, and relayed by Sport Witness, Crystal Palace and Everton are now racing to sign Zakaria El Ouahdi. Both clubs have made enquiries, launching contact to sign the Genk right-back - sparking quite the battle ahead of the summer transfer window.
Everton's interest should come as little shock. Right-back has been a problem area for the last 12 months in Merseyside, with David Moyes scrambling to replace the ageing Seamus Coleman. Whilst Jake O'Brien has done an admirable job, he's likely to step back into his preferred centre-back role sooner or later.
Dubbed "superb" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, El Ouahdi is valued at around €15m (£13m) by Genk and could have a big decision to make this summer.