Roy Hodgson’s Palace reportedly want to bring Angers’ Rayan Ait-Nouri to the Premier League so will the Ligue 1 star end up at Selhurst Park?
Crystal Palace may be forced to pay a club-record £31.5 million for Angers flyer Rayan Ait-Nouri in the off-season, according to LeFoot.
Palace fans everywhere could be forgiven for scoffing at the prospect of the French flyer etching his name into the Eagles’ history books during the upcoming transfer window.
Much to the frustration of manager Roy Hodgson, funds have been in short supply in recent times.
While many Premier League clubs are splashing the cash like an chunky child in a sweet shop, Crystal Palace spent just £5 million in the summer of 2019 with the Londoners forced to look at bargain deals and short-term loans.
But, if Hodgson wants to bring Ait-Nouri to the English capital, owner Steve Parish will have to part with a bigger fee than the one which brought Christian Benteke to Selhurst Park from Liverpool four years ago.
LeFoot reports that the France U21 international is valued at £31.5 million. Angers even rejected a £25 million bid from an unnamed Premier League club in January for a player also admired by Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
At just 18, Ait-Nouri is far from the finished product and, as long as Patrick Van Aanholt stays, he would hardly be guaranteed a place in Crystal Palace’s starting XI either.
So that £30 million-plus might be better spent on a top-class centre-forward or a dynamic central midfielder instead.
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