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Crystal Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish admits he’s ‘astounded’ there wasn’t more transfer interest in England star Eberechi Eze.
Despite several injury setbacks, Eze enjoyed a brilliant 2023/24 season, recording 11 goals and six assists in 31 appearances for the Eagles.
He was rewarded with a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 where he made three appearances off the bench as the Three Lions reached the final.
The attacking midfielder has begun the new season in fine form too, scoring twice in four games including a stunning strike in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea.
But it could have been very different as Palace were braced to receive big money offers for their best players over the summer including Eze who had a release clause worth around £60million.
Tottenham and Manchester City were very interested in the 26-year-old but no bids were made, something that baffled Parish.
‘I was really worried from a club point of view of losing Michael [Olise] and Ebs in the same window,’ the club chairman told Sky Sports.
‘We didn’t have in Ebs the interest that I thought we would have. I was astounded. Genuinely astounded.
‘I mean, the guy’s just an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person. He’s a gift to any football club.
‘I don’t think any Crystal Palace supporters would mind that fact that at some point Ebs wants to play at the highest level. He’s playing regularly for England, back in the squad again which we’re so proud about.
‘Ebs is still here and it’s great for the football club. I was surprised that that’s what happened.’
It is said that Eze’s release clause has now expired, while the player has three years left to run on his contract
Palace did make two big sales over the summer, with Olise joining Bayern Munich for over £50m, while Joachim Andersen moved to Fulham for £30m, the latter transfer a key factor behind the club’s decision not to sell Marc Guehi who was heavily linked with a £65m switch to Newcastle.
‘I don’t think the window worked out exactly the same format that we thought it would. Maybe we thought at the beginning it’d be more likely that Marc Guehi went and we kept Joachim Andersen,’ Parish added.
‘We accepted that bid [for Andersen] which then made it very difficult really to sell both of our starting centre-backs in one window.
‘That’s not to say it wasn’t still an outside possibility that we got to the right number but then Chadi Riad got injured. That doesn’t look quite as bad as it seems but it still left us very light and really made it impossible for us to consider at that point.’
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