Crystal Palace hope to sign West Brom-linked attacker on Thursday after £19.5m bid – report
Crystal Palace hope to beat West Brom to the signing of attacker Eberechi Eze from QPR on Thursday, according to the Telegraph.
The newspaper reports that the Baggies, Fulham and West Ham had wanted to sign the 22-year-old but Palace have taken a major stride towards completing a deal by having a bid accepted.
It is understood that the Eagles offered £19.5million for Eze, which was £500,000 short of QPR’s valuation.
However, the West London club have accepted the offer, which pretty much means that West Brom are no longer in the running to sign the impressive attacking midfielder.
The Guardian reported earlier this month that Albion had held “informal talks” over signing Eze ahead of their return to the Premier League.
Slaven Bilic was spotted talking to Eze on the pitch after the Baggies’ 2-2 draw with QPR, in which the attacker scored a superb goal for the away side at The Hawthorns.
Stats by WhoScored say that Eze completed more dribbles [136] than any other player in the Championship last season while also ranking ninth for the number of key passes he made [82].
If those numbers are anything to go by then Eze is an attacking midfielder who is ready to make the step up to the Premier League.
West Brom have already signed up an attacking midfielder in Matheus Pereira, who plays a similar way to the soon-to-be Crystal Palace attacker.
Eze would have been a great addition at The Hawthorns but Bilic has other priorities at the moment with a centre-forward surely being top of his list.
In other West Brom news, Albion could finalise a deal for this Premier League player by the end of the week.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.