With the captain’s armband fitting snugly around his bicep and with three years left on the contract he signed in 2019, Crystal Palace would be lucky to get the little plastic tube on the end of Callum McGregor’s shoelace for £7 million.
According to Homme du Match, Eagles boss Patrick Vieira sees the tireless, tenacious Scotland international as the next piece of his Selhurst Park jigsaw.
But with reports suggesting Crystal Palace plan to test the waters with an opening bid of £7 million, it’s difficult to dispel the notion this is all a colossal waste of time.
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Just three weeks ago, Brentford were forced to pay a club-record fee of £13 million to lure Kristoffer Ajer away from Celtic Park – and he had just one year left on his contract.
The same goes for Odsonne Edouard, the prolific centre-forward priced out of a move to the Premier League for a second year in a row.
How much would McGregor cost Palace, realistically speaking?
Well, considering the newly appointed club captain has been handed a central role in Ange Postecoglou’s plans – quite literally, given McGregor is thriving in the number six position vacated by the legendary Scott Brown – we’d guess it would take a bid in excess of £20 million to really twist Celtic’s arm.
Crystal Palace have already invested heavily in Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi but still have plenty of funds left over. American businessman John Textor invested £90 million in the south London club last week.
But, when it comes to Callum McGregor, it looks as though it’s a case of back to the drawing board for Palace.
Here’s what some Celtic supporters on Twitter had to say about Crystal Palace’s interest:
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