Crystal Palace are interested in signing Queens Park Rangers midfielder Massimo Luongo, according to reports in Australia.
The 25-year old Australia international has impressed for QPR this season, and is also being pursued by Aston Villa, as well as La Liga outfit Malaga.
Luongo is expected to play for the Caltex Socceroos this summer at the World Cup, where good performances could well see his price tag skyrocket.
The midfielder has just two years left on his current deal with the Hoops, having signed from Swindon in 2015 for a fee of around £3.5million – a double deal that also included the signing of Robins teammates Ben Gladwin.
David Magrone, Luongo’s adviser who brought the Sydney boy to Tottenham’s academy as a youngster, believes he can play at a higher level than he is at now, whether that is the Premier League or abroad. As reported by The World Game, he said;
Mass is doing nothing different but the big change is that he’s been scoring and that gets you in the headlines.
I have no doubt he has the capacity to play in the Premier League, and also in Europe, whether that’s in Spain or Italy.
When I was at Tottenham (as chief European scout) Tom Carroll, Ryan Mason, Jake Livermore and Nabil Bentaleb all broke through.
Mass is just as good, if not better than all of them – and that’s when he was at Tottenham.
He’s an even better player now after 70 odd games in the Championship.
Livermore was an England international and he played alongside Mass in centre midfield for Spurs’ (Under-23s).
There’s no question of whether Mass is good enough, it’s a case of whether somebody will give him the chance.
Villa and Malaga have both tried signing the Australian in the past, with the Midlands club having attempted to sign him from Swindon, while Malaga are believed to have made an enquiry in January. Magrone continued;
The argument has always been he doesn’t score enough goals or create enough assists.
But he’s usually been the one who does the stuff before all those stats come into play, by winning the ball and releasing it.
But he can also create and score, if you’re willing to let him play a riskier type of game.
And you can see that in recent weeks. Perhaps he’s been a little more single-minded in his approach, especially when he’s in and around the penalty area.
Luongo was part of Australia’s AFC Asia Cup success in 2015, where he was named in the team of the tournament and as the competition’s MVP.
He also holds the distinction of being named on the Ballon d’Or shortlist in 2015, shortly after signing for Rangers.
