According to Matteo Moretto, Crystal Palace have made progress in their pursuit of Ilaix Moriba, who turned down Tottenham in 2021.
What’s the story?
Well, the south Londoners ambitiously opened talks to sign the RB Leipzig wonderkid a few weeks ago, and they have now supposedly advanced their pursuit of the Guinea international.
Moretto believes Crystal Palace have stepped things up, to the point where Valencia – who had Moriba on loan in the second half of the 2021/22 campaign – are starting to give up hope of bringing him back to the Mestalla.
The Spanish side believe the deal has become too complicated after the Eagles got involved, and believe there are better, more obtainable, options out there for them.
By the sounds of it, that leaves Patrick Vieira and Dougie Freedman with a free run at Moriba, who has been described as the new Yaya Toure.
It is unclear whether Crystal Palace are pursuing a permanent deal for the 19-year-old, or a loan move.
Nevertheless, if the south Londoners can get their hands on Moriba, it would be a seriously exciting addition.
Interest in the Conakry-born maestro comes after he made 24 appearances in all competitions last season, providing one assist.
Tottenham could hijack Crystal Palace move
In our view, Tottenham may have something to say about Crystal Palace’s interest in Moriba.
It was said that Spurs were keen to sign the teenager in 2021 shortly after Fabio Paratici was hired as the new Director of Football by Daniel Levy.
Ultimately, Moriba rejected a move to north London in favour of signing for RB Leipzig, where things didn’t exactly go to plan for him in his first season in Germany.
With Paratici still employed by Tottenham, there remains the chance he could hijack Crystal Palace’s pursuit, although with no fresh links involving Spurs and Moriba, that ship may have sailed – only time will tell.
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