(Football news) Crystal Palace are believed to be closing on the signing of Mali’s midfielder Cheick Doucouré after agreeing an initial £18m fee. The 22-year-old emerged as one of Patrick Vieira’s key targets after having an excellent season in Ligue 1 last season as Lens finished an incredible seventh in the league. Doucouré is expected to agree a five-year deal at Selhurst Park after agreeing personal terms with them.
Palace had an initial £14m offer rejected last week but returned with an improved bid which was worth more than £22m. Patrick Vieira is in need of reinforcements in midfield after Conor Gallagher returned to Chelsea and there are doubts over Cheikhou Kouyaté's future at the club as his deal expires at the end of this month. Talks over a new contract with him have failed to bring an agreement so far, with clubs in Turkey believed to be interested in the 32-year-old. With the captain Luka Milivojević out of favour and concerns over the injury record of James McArthur despite signing a contract extension, Doucouré will be expected to occupy the holding midfielder role in Palace’s midfield.. A loan for Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka back to his former club also remains an option for Patrick Viera and Palace have signed former Derby forward Malcolm Ebiowei who has signed a five-year deal after Palace saw off interest from Manchester United in the 18-year-old.
The 18-year-old agreed to sign for Premier League side Crystal Palace from 1st July 2022 as Derby made an attractive long-term offer to Ebiowei to retain his services at the club, he was viewed as a key player moving forward for Derby. The Rams will now be entitled to get some compensation after the two clubs agreed on an undisclosed fee. Ebiowei joined Derby from Rangers last September and after performing brilliantly under Adam Robinson’s Under-18s, he was called up by Rooeny to the first team squad in early phases of 2022.
He finally made his senior debut as a substitute in Derby’s 3-1 home win over Hull City in February, while his first 90 minutes came in a 2-0 success over Barnsley at Pride Park Stadium in January. From that point onwards, Ebiowei became a regular in the side and he impressed with some lively performances. He went on to score his first senior goal for Derby in 2-0 victory at Blackpool in April and the former Arsenal youth academy player finally ended the season with 16 appearances to his name in the Championship. This caught the eye of many big clubs around the world and Manchester United were particularly interested in him, but knowing first team football would be difficult at United he chose Crystal Palace instead.
“I’m delighted that Malcolm has chosen Crystal Palace as the best place to continue his development, following his impressive breakthrough into senior football in recent months. He is a highly coveted young player, and we very much expect to provide a platform for him to flourish at the highest level” said the chairman, Steve Parish.
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