Crystal Palace £32m transfer stalls after player criticised by Leicester City manager

Crystal Palace have temporary stalled a transfer swoop for Leicester City attacking midfielder Bilal El Khannouss to look at other options as the London outfit prepares for the possibility of losing Eberechi Eze this summer.

The England international has been heavily linked with a move to Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur with talks over a switch progressing. Providing the latest on that move, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano wrote on Monday: “Negotiations for Eberechi Eze to Spurs are again underway today after £55m plus £5m proposal yesterday. Daniel Levy and Steve Parish, in direct contact to seal the agreement.”

Eze’s departure would leave a big hole for the club to fill given his prominence to the side since being signed from QPR for £20 million in 2020. One of the players who could be brought in to replace Eze is El Khannouss.

Crystal Palace stall on El Khannouss transfer

The 21-year-old joined Leicester City from Belgian side Genk for £21 million last summer and made 33 appearances for the Foxes last season, scoring three goals over their disappointing Premier League campaign. Despite his team’s form, the Moroccan international earned plaudits for his creativity.

The Sunderland Echo claimed that the Black Cats were seriously monitoring a move this summer with Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Aston Villa and Everton also linked. Fresh reports from Sky Sports now suggest that Crystal Palace are frontrunners for a transfer but that there is hesitation from Selhurst Park.

On Wednesday, Sky Sports reported that Crystal Palace are ‘close to agreeing’ a £32 million deal for the player but that the club is not ‘fully committed’ as they explore a different move for Southampton hotshot Tyler Dibling, who is also viewed as a replacement for Eze. It’s added that the deal with the Foxes has been ‘temporarily halted’.

Leicester City star criticised by Marti Cifuentes

It comes after El Khannouss was taken off after 45 minutes in Leicester City’s 2-1 defeat to Preston North End in the Championship last weekend. Speaking after the match, Foxes boss Marti Cifuentes criticised the player.

He said: “I was not very happy with Bilal’s performance. I always expect a lot with players of this quality. I was obviously not happy with the performance of the whole team in the first half, it was not just about Bilal. But I am more demanding with the best players and I think Bilal is a fantastic player.”

It’s unknown whether it was the player’s showing at the weekend which has caused Crystal Palace hesitancies. Former Premier League striker Charlie Austin told Sky Sports: “He’s not a replacement [for Eze]. It’s someone who can come in and be a part of the replacement strategy. It’s going to be a tough one to replace, if they take both of them [Dibling and El Khannouss] then they have a chance to replace him.

“For me, the biggest outcome of it all is why has it stopped now? They’re obviously not sure. They’ve agreed a payment structure but Oliver Glasner will know what type of player he wants. He might have looked at the weekend and his body language after 45 minutes... what’s going on? It might be talked about that he’s trying to force a move but is he really going to be able to fill those boots and hit the ground running?”

In other news, What Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton just did in Crystal Palace training amid Tottenham and Man Utd links.