According to The Athletic, it was Patrick Vieira who was the driving force behind Crystal Palace’s January interest in Donny van de Beek.
What’s the story?
Well, Crystal Palace tried to bring the £100,000-a-week man to Selhurst Park last month, although they were beaten to his services by Everton.
The Athletic believe Vieira was the one keen on Van de Beek, who didn’t necessarily fit Crystal Palace’s recruitment model.
At the moment, the south Londoners are putting an emphasis on recruiting young talent with high resale value.
Aged 24, and with Manchester United not interested in giving the Eagles an option to buy, it would’ve been an uncharacteristic addition by Dougie Freedman.
Furthermore, the Red Devils wanted 100% of the Dutchman’s wages covered, as well as a substantial loan fee.
The Athletic believe that would’ve eaten into Crystal Palace’s summer budget, which wouldn’t have been worth it for roughly 15 games of Van de Beek’s qualities.
It’s good that Crystal Palace missed out on Donny van de Beek
In our view, we’re not sure why Vieira was so keen to sign the former Ajax maestro when Eberechi Eze is still struggling for playing time.
The £20m man is fit again after a terrible achilles injury, but he’s yet to make a Premier League start this season.
Had Van de Beek arrived, Eze would’ve been pushed even further down the pecking order, which the Selhurst Park faithful would not have liked to see.
Hopefully, the 23-year-old will grab the next chance he gets with both hands – he is far too talented to sit on Crystal Palace’s bench.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
