Crystal Palace enquire about Eberechi Eze replacement

Crystal Palace are on the lookout for a new attacking midfielder following the departure of Eberechi Eze to Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Eze who has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur all through the transfer window secured a sensational move to Arsenal. The England international has been unveiled to his new fans but Palace are yet to secure his replacement.

Palace need a new versatile attacking player to take over from Eze and appear to have identified RB Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner.

According to Sky Sport Germany, contact has been made with the Bundesliga side by way of an enquiry. Report claim while the Austria international has not been actively looking to leave, he is said to find the idea of playing in the Premier League “exciting” after turning down an offer from England in 2024.

Baumgartner holds the record for the fastest ever goal scored in international football, netting just six seconds into Austria’s 2024 friendly win over Slovakia.

He was linked with Manchester United and Liverpool in 2021, while at Hoffenheim, but wanted to stay put at that stage of his career.

While it’s still unclear if he’ll decide to join Palace, the Eagles boss Oliver Glasner has been vocal about his own club’s lack of proactiveness this summer, admitting it was known much earlier in the window that Eze would likely be sold, only to wait and wait until a time when it is much more rushed to source a replacement.

Marc Guehi  has also been linked to Liverpool this summer. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images). (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

That frustration also extends to Liverpool target Marc Guehi, who could also yet be sold before Monday’s deadline.

“We are very, very late to find the right replacements,” Glasner said last week. “I think we could have done much better than we did.”

The final week of the transfer window stands to be a busy one for Palace, especially if Guehi heads to Anfield and makes another centre-back a priority. In addition to Baumgartner, Leicester winger Bilal El Khannouss is a target, but there could be rival interest from Tottenham.