Palacios Travelling For Medical
Wednesday, 26th Aug 2026 13:30
Argentina international Exequiel Palacios is reportedly on his way to complete his move to the Blues from Bayer Levekusen.
Last night, after protracted negotiations and four bids over the course of the last few weeks, it emerged that the clubs had agreed an initial fee of €22.5 million (£19.2 million) plus a further €5 million (£4.3 million) in add-ons. The Bundesliga club are understood to have a 10 per cent sell-on.
According to [Fabrizio Romano](https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2092577282078503325), the 27-year-old is now travelling to the UK ahead of a medical on Thursday with personal terms running to June 2030 having been agreed.
Palacios is set to become the most eye-catching addition of an already very busy summer at Portman Road, with the outlay having hit the £150 million mark even prior to this deal, and probably the highest profile signing in the club’s history, and the first with a World Cup winner’s medal.
The midfielder, who began his career with River Plate in his home country, was part of the Argentina squad which won the World Cup in 2022, featuring as a sub in three games, although not the final.
And Famaillá-born Palacios was in the party which lost this year’s final last month, although made only one appearance during the 2026 finals, starting the group game against Jordan. In total, he has won 41 full caps.
During his six years with Leverkusen he won the Bundesliga title and Pokal (German Cup) double in 2023/24. In addition, they were runners-up in the Europa League the same season.
With River Plate, he won the Copa Argentina in 2016/17 and 2018/19, the Copa Libertadores in 2018 and the Recopa Sudamericana in 2019.
_Photo: Stefan Koops - EYE4IMAGES via Reuters Connect_