Crystal Palace are hoping to beat Arsenal and Liverpool to the signing of Marseille teenager Maxime Lopez.
The 18-year-old is a target for numerous top clubs around Europe but according to Paul Brown from the Daily Star, Palace hope that the promise of first-team football could see him make the move to Selhurst Park.
Lopez, who is an attacking midfielder, has been given his chance in the Marseille first team under new manager Rudi Garcia.
He’s been at the French side since he was 12-years-old but, according to Transfermarkt, his contract expires in 2017 so he’ll be free to talk to any interested parties in January.
Palace are hopeful that he’ll decide not to go to one of the so-called ‘bigger’ clubs in Europe and move somewhere where he’ll be more likely to play regularly and they hope he’ll choose to become an Eagle.
The youngster has made five appearances for Marseille so far this season and they want him to sign a new contract but only have about two months to get a deal done before he is free to talk to other clubs.
