Crystal Palace will need to pay a compensation fee of £4.5 million in order to lure manager Steve Cooper away from Championship play-off losers Swansea City, as reported by the Sun (30 May, page 59).
As Swansea and Barnsley went head-to-head in the play-off semi-finals last month, Palace’s interest in two highly-rated tacticians added an extra layer of intrigue to proceedings.
With Swansea and Barnsley missing out on a place in the promised land as Brentford finally put their Wembley hoodoo behind them, the second-tier duo may be fighting a losing battle if Crystal Palace come calling for their manager.
Will Steve Cooper be Crystal Palace’s Hodgson replacement?
Cooper, however, won’t come cheap.
The Sun reports that the former England U17 boss, who famously led Phil Foden, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho to international glory, has a £4.5 million compensation fee in his contract.
That, remarkably enough, would make 41-year-old Cooper one of the most expensive managers in Premier League history, albeit well short of the current record fee set by Andre Villas-Boas almost a decade ago.
The one-time Liverpool youth coach was reportedly a candidate for the Sheffield United job too. The Blades opted for Slavisa Jokanovic instead, however.
Interestingly, Cooper’s agent was also spotted at Selhurst Park in May, although it is uncertain whether he was holding talks with Palace chairman Steve Parish.
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