Crystal Palace and Chelsea are being linked with young Brazilian midfielder Matheus Franca.
The 19-year-old Flamengo player could soon be on his way to London and the Premier League, with the Blues and Eagles both identified as possible destinations according to the Daily Mail.
They initially had Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea down as the main pursuers of Franca’s services earlier this week.
But now the same publication has reported news from globo.com that Crystal Palace are also interested in the youngster.
Franca won’t come cheap, however, with a price tag of up to £25million rumoured to be required to bring him to these shores.
It is claimed he is keen on making the move to England, although Chelsea are likely to loan him out to Strasbourg initially.
That could well hand the Eagles an advantage in any bidding war because Palace are far more likely to offer first team football straight away with Wilfried Zaha yet to decide if he is staying at Selhurst Park.
Zaha is still considering a £200k per week offer on the table from his boyhood club, but has also been linked with Paris Saint-Germain, Lazio and several Saudi Arabian sides.
Meanwhile, Palace defender Kofi Balmer could be on his way out to Port Vale on loan.
The 22-year-old arrived from Larne last summer and was a member of the Eagles’ U21 side in 2022/23.
Now Balmer could be set to gain some first team experience in the English game as Vale look set to offer him the chance to join the League One side in a temporary deal.
Crystal Palace continue their pre-season build up with a friendly tomorrow against Danish side Brondby (ko 2pm).
