Gheorge Hagi called reported £13m Crystal Palace target 'the same' as Mbappe

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Florinel Coman might not thank us for bringing these quotes to your attention.

After all, with Crystal Palace discussing a potential £13 million deal for a winger who could soon be tasked with replacing Wilfried Zaha at Selhurst Park, Coman would arrive at Selhurst Park with plenty of pressure on his shoulders.

Given that the Romania international is far from a household name on the streets of South London, Palace fans deserve to know what they are getting.

Especially as Coman is expected to become one of their top-five most expensive signings of all time.

While no one is getting carried away just yet, (the Steaua Bucharest forward is just 22 after all and the step up from Romanian to Premier League football is a substantial one), Gheorghe Hagi’s gushing praise is guaranteed to get pulses racing and eyebrows raising.

Or, perhaps, set a bar so high that Coman cannot help fall short.

“Coman, born in ’98, is very poorly valued (in the transfer market),” the greatest Romanian football of all time told Sport in 2017.

“£2 – 3 million… at 18, Mbappe was valued at £80 million!

Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain looks on prior to the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier HSC at Parc des Princes on February 01, 2020 in Paris, France. (Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

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“(Coman) is the same player (as Mbappe). I’m sorry to tell you, but he’s the same player. It’s just that one is French and the other is Romanian.”

Three years later, Mbappe is a World Champion, one of the most feared forwards on the planet and, if fit, the best hope Paris Saint-Germain have of conquering the continent at long, long last.

Coman, meanwhile, is still leaving full-backs red faced and goalkeepers grasping at thin air in his native Romania. But, after producing 15 goals and 11 assists in 2019/20, he will soon be handed the opportunity to justify Hagi’s hype in the most high-profile league in European football.

“It is true that we proposed Florinel Coman to Crystal Palace, and now we are waiting for their answer,” Giovanni Becali, the winger’s agent, told Fanatik.

“The move depends on some details, but it is being discussed. We will see what decision the people from Palace make.”