Crystal Palace should sign bargain £20m player Guardiola says is 'special' to replace Eze - opinion

Crystal Palace should spring into action amid a report that a Premier League attacking midfielder has become available for an affordable price. It’s going to be an interesting rest of the summer for Palace as they look to strengthen ready for a European campaign, but their biggest task will be keeping hold of their most talented players.

Marc Guehi is in the last year of his contract and attracting attention, while there is also interest aplenty in Eberechi Eze, whose time to join a top tier club might just have arrived. Eze is said to have a release clause worth up to £68million, and the Eagles might be powerless to stop his departure if a high level club comes knocking with the will to pay that clause.

A number of players have been tipped to replace Eze at Selhurst park if he leaves, and there may now be a fresh option, with Manchester City star James McAtee now reportedly available. Fabrizio Romano has posted on X: “James McAtee can leave Manchester City this summer for fee around £20/25m. Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A clubs are showing interest in Euro U21 winner with England as captain. Atalanta are among clubs well informed on his situation.”

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder is one of the players Palace should now be seriously considering as they look to add a player who can replace Eze. McAtee is a clever attacking midfielder who is able to unlock doors behind the striker, and there aren’t many of those players around, especially not for such an affordable fee.

City boss Pep Guardiola has previously said of McAtee: “We haven’t seen it [from James] this season because I didn’t allow him to play minutes. I cannot ask anything from these types of players when they do not play a lot of minutes. They could do better? No. In the Spurs game, maybe the first games he played in the Carabao Cup he played really good.

“Macca has this quality, he could’ve scored four goals [against Palace]. He has the ability to create chances, he is there. Of course that game we were better than Crystal Palace and you play better and the chances come for themselves. We scored five goals and we had four more clear chances. This season, I remember 2-0 against Leicester and we had two shots on target. That was not the team of the past eight or nine years. It’s a team that if the other side scores one or two, we create eight, nine chances. This season, this team scores one or two goals but we didn’t create much. Macca lives close to the box, quite similar to Phil and they are there. They have a sense [of goal], it’s difficult to train in the moment the ball is coming and after he didn’t score but it’s fine. As much minutes he plays he will score.”

Guardiola said last summer: “I would love to have, to keep him (James McAtee) next season with us, because he’s a special guy to play in small spaces, in the pockets, and we don’t have many. When you play in the Premier League in a team fighting to not be relegated (Sheffield United), you get something special… I am curious to see Macca especially. He’s a player I have a high, high opinion of, and I would like if he can insert properly with the team.”

That’s a ringing endorsement that Palace should be playing close attention to as they contemplate losing a serious talent in Eze.

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