Crystal Palace have emerged as a shock contender to bring in Barcelona shot-stopper Jasper Cillessen. The Dutch international moved to Nou Camp last summer but has been forced to play the second fiddle to Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Manager Frank De Boer is yet to look into the transfer market who was unveiled by Crystal Palace as the replacement of Sam Allardyce who left the club in a shock move after the season got over.
The Eagles are still sweating over the future of Steve Mandanda who has been the subject of a bid from Marseille. The French club saw their bid rejected but could return with an improved bid.
Mandanda arrived last July but a knee injury jolted his Palace career as he was restricted to only nine appearances in the Premier League. The 32-year-old is weighing his options and might return to his former club.
Palace are expected to take a decision on Mandanda’s future in the next few days and depending on the situation they will plan their next move. Cillessen was signed by Barcelona in a bid to replace Claudio Bravo who preferred to join the path of his former Barca manager Pep Guardiola to Manchester City.
Palace will only make an offer if Mandanda decides to part ways with the club. De Boer is set to target a number of his former players and the Dutch international could be the first one. The Dutch keeper was one of the many players De Boer inducted to the Ajax side and later he went on to be his country’s no. 1.
Cillessen is currently the first choice keeper for Netherlands. With the World Cup knocking on the door, he knows the importance of first team football and would definitely like to prefer a move elsewhere.
The keeper has a mammoth £53m release clause in his contract but Palace are ready to unleash De Boer to do some serious business. The Dutch manager is expected to be in the thick of the action in the next few days to initiate a move.
Palace are yet to make any major move in the transfer market in comparison to his peers who have been busy splashing the cash. They have released a number of players including Mathieu Flamini and Joe Ledley but are yet to sign someone to fill the void.
However, if they manage to hijack a deal for Cillessen it would give them a huge uplift before the start of the season.
