Former Arsenal ace holds two meetings with Premier League rivals as move edges closer

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Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew remains hopeful that the club will be able to sign free Mathieu Flamini after meeting with the veteran twice.

The 32-year-old has been without a club after being released by Arsenal at the end of last season, but is evidently interested in a move to Selhurst Park.

According to The Croydon Advertiser, Pardew has purposely left one space in his squad and wants Flamini to fill that position in the coming days.

“Yes, there is scope to bring in one more into the squad. I did that on purpose as I thought there might be a player we can take who is not under contract, who might just fit what we’re doing,”

“Mathieu is a player I am looking at, yes. He would give us a bit more experience to winning games.

“I like the fact whenever he played, he played in the big, big games at Arsenal when they needed someone to kind of lead the team over the line and get big results.

“We’ve had a couple of meetings with Mathieu to talk about what he would do here.”

The French midfield general enjoyed two separate spells with the Gunners, while he also spent time in Serie A with AC Milan in between, making almost 100 league appearances for the Italian giants.

Although he would face significant competition for places at Palace, the Eagles are still looking for a replacement for Mile Jedinak, after the Australian international left in the transfer window to join Aston Villa.

Flamini would arguably fill that role perfectly, but it remains to be seen whether or not he accepts a return to London as Pardew eagerly awaits developments in the situation having missed out on the Frenchman’s former Gunners teammate Jack Wilshere ahead of the deadline after he opted for a loan move to Bournemouth instead.

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