'Different planet' - Crystal Palace place £60m price tags on 'Champions League' stars

Crystal Palace are now three wins from three having beaten Newcastle 2-0 at Selhurst Park last night. They may be only sitting 14th in the Premier League, but Oliver Glasner’s side look like they could take on any team in the world at the moment and two of their attacking stars have been key to the success.

According to a report from the BBC, the Eagles have stated they will only entertain offers from 25-year-old Eberechi Eze and 22-year-old Michael Olise that start at £60 million or more for each forward. The club, who are now safe from any relegation threat and have secured a club-record 12th season of Premier League football, are in a strong financial position and do not need to sell their star players - unlike their most recent opponents.

However, both Eze and Olise have received huge amounts of praise in recent weeks with Glasner aware that bids for both of them are highly likely when the summer transfer window opens in June.

Both the English and French wingers signed long-term contract extensions with Palace this season putting the Eagles in an even stronger negotiating position but as neither side contains a straight-forward release clause, any deal will involve percentages handed out to the player’s former club, the players themselves and the Selhurst Park side.

The upcoming transfer window will not be the first time that either Eze or Olise - who have only started six Premier League games together this season - have attracted interest. In summer 2023, the 25-year-old England international Eze was subject to interest from Manchester City but Pep Guardiola ultimately opted for Wolves’s Matheus Nunes instead. Olise, on the other hand, saw an unsuccessful bidding attempt from Chelsea. The Blues offered £35m for the English-born French youth international thinking they had activated his release clause but this was not to be the case.

It’s almost incredulous to think that Olise and Eze have started just six games together as, in those six fixtures, they have scored or assisted 13 of the 14 goals scored. Speaking on Match of the Day following Palace’s 5-2 win over West Ham, pundit Danny Murphy said Eze was on a ‘different planet’.

“He is a Champions League player - I’m sorry, Palace fans” Murphy added. “He will not be there next season/ This is an unbelievable talent. There are going to be so many clubs after him because he can do the lot. A wonderful, wonderful player.”