Crystal Palace are reportedly willing to fork up £12m for the services of Arsenal talent Eddie Nketiah, according to the Sun, whilst they’ve also made their move for Celtic hitman Odsonne Edouard.
The Sun report that the Eagles’ first bid for 22-year-old Nketiah stood at £8m, but they are now hoping that to find an agreement with the Gunners, who may lower their £20m price tag for the forward.
Nketiah debuted for Arsenal at the start of the 2017/18 season but really started to show himself as a potential star when he was recalled from a loan spell at Leeds midway through the 19/20 campaign.
The talent has been unable to land the regular action needed to showcase his ability though, Nketiah only started 14 of his 29 appearances last season, with the majority of his outings being cameos.
The Sun note that Palace boss and Arsenal great Patrick Vieira identified the England Under-21s’ all-time top scorer as a target, but the Eagles have lined up a backup option in Odsonne Edouard.
The Sun add that Palace have submitted an offer of £15m for Celtic talisman Edouard, stating that the south London outfit are ‘basically offering’ up their striker vacancy to whoever ‘grabs it first’.
With Brighton also reportedly keen on Nketiah, Palace’s approach for Edouard means that they won’t be left high and dry up top of a deal for the Arsenal man can’t be sorted out.
Nketiah still managed to come up with six goals for the Gunners in a frustrating 2020/21 campaign for the ace, but he’ll find it difficult to land regular action with Mikel Arteta’s side from now on.
Minutes for the 22-year-old were already contingent on either or both of Alexandre Lacazette or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being unavailable, but he now has a fellow academy graduate to contend with for a spot in the team as Folarin Balogun has broken through.
Nketiah is currently sidelined with an injury to his right ankle, which he suffered in the pre-season friendly defeat to Chelsea. A return to training in early September is the target, according to Arsenal.
The path to regular minutes for Nketiah at Arsenal is well and truly blocked right now, so the Gunners may well be better off cashing in on the talented forward.