After weeks of protracted speculation over a deal for Crystal Palace and West Ham target Eberechi Eze, negotiations over a fee for the QPR starlet appear to have reached a deadlock.
According to reports, Crystal Palace remain unwilling to offer any initial fee surpassing £10 million for the dynamic attacking midfielder. Given the malign financial impact of the pandemic across the English footballing landscape and the fact that the Rangers’ breakthrough talent is entering the final year of his current deal, it is unsurprising that the Palace hierarchy are willing to remain tough on their own valuation of Eze.
Moreover, the structure of any deal for Eze appears to remain a contentious and presently unassailable obstacle to the conclusion of a deal. According to Sky Sports a, Palace’s initial offer of £8 million with an additional £4 million in add-on bonuses contained some dubious clauses and targets.
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One such clause was a bonus relating to Crystal Palace qualifying for European competition. Given Palace’s mediocre 14th-place finish in the 2019/20 Premier League season and an expectation that talisman and star player Wilfried Zaha could be available for as little as £30 million, it is perhaps to be expected that senior figures at QPR view such a clause as unrealistic.
Palace fans will undoubtedly feel a mild jangling of nerves at such disappointing news. Whilst there has been no official break-down in negotiations, a sentiment of frustration from both parties appears to have sprung to the fore. This could potentially open the way for West Ham to rival Palace for the starlet’s signature.
QPR have insisted that finding a replacement for Eze will be as difficult as it is costly, valuing their star man at a figure close to £20 million. It is now increasingly unknown as to whether a club would match this valuation, though it should come as a consolation that Eze himself is believed to prefer a move to SE25 with the chance to play in the Premier League in order to challenge himself at the highest level of English football.
