According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Crystal Palace have started exploring contingency plans as Eberechi Eze moves closer to join Arsenal.
The Gunners made a breakthrough in their pursuit of the Palace attacking midfielder on Wednesday night.
When it looked like the England international was heading to Tottenham, their Premier League rivals Arsenal hijacked the move and struck a deal with Palace, as well as with the player.
Since Eze is an Arsenal fan, he jumped at the opportunity to play for the club of his dreams and decided to snub Thomas Frank’s Tottenham.
As far as Palace are concerned, they have already started working on plans to replace the influential attacking midfielder.
Crystal Palace open talks to sign Yeremy Pino
One of the names now firmly on their radar is Villarreal winger Yeremy Pino, with the Eagles making contact to understand the conditions of a possible deal within the last 24 hours, as per Romano.
Eze’s potential switch to the Emirates would represent a huge loss, given his crucial role in the side’s attacking build-up and his ability to dictate games in the final third.
In response, the South London club have moved to assess potential replacements, with 21-year-old Pino identified as a serious candidate.
The 22-year-old Spanish playmaker scored four goals and provided ten assists last season for the La Liga side.
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Palace face hurdles to sign the Spanish star
Yeremy Pino of Villarreal CF runs with the ball (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
That said, Romano stresses that this is far from a straightforward pursuit. Villarreal are reluctant sellers and are expected to demand a significant fee if they are to part with their highly-rated academy graduate.
Palace’s enquiry is understood to have focused on the financial parameters and potential structure of any deal, but no agreement is in sight at this stage.
For Palace, the…
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