16 December 2023 , 07:15
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Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze could've been on the opposite side when his team-mates face Manchester City this Saturday.
The injured midfielder, having lit up the Premier League at the end of last season alongside fellow playmaker Michael Olise as Palace mounted a successful survival charge, was the subject of a £60million bid from European champions City on transfer deadline day. Eze, 25, was picked out by Pep Guardiola and his club's recruitment team following the £42.5m sale of academy graduate Cole Palmer to rivals Chelsea.
Mirror Football exclusively revealed just days after the transfer window closed that the Treble winners had failed in a move for Eze, who remained at Palace alongside Chelsea target Olise. City did, however, complete one late signing.
Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes arrived at the Etihad for a fee worth up to £53m, although the Portuguese has so far failed to show the kind of quality which he demonstrated at Molineux last term after joining from Sporting Lisbon. Nunes, 25, has played just 407 minutes of Premier League football and is yet to earn Guardiola's unwavering trust.
Eze, too, has struggled this season. After starting off the campaign in solid form and earning back-to-back England call-ups, the 25-year-old missed the whole of October before picking up a fresh injury in Palace's limp 2-1 defeat away to Luton in November.
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Eze is so desperate to return to action that he's even risked the wrath of manager Roy Hodgson during his recovery. When asked about the England international's progress earlier this month, Hodgson revealed: "Im afraid it is up in the air because Eze is seemingly of the opinion he'll get over it very quickly and be back but the medical staff think hell be out for a long period of time.
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Eberechi Eze is yet to play in December (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)"I know what I want but I don't know what I can get. I think he's going to attempt to train with us over the next couple of days but I don't know quite how optimistic I can be. The medical staff have said the injury is such that it could take a long time to recover from."
January may come as a natural parting of the ways between Palace and Eze, especially if City renew their concrete interest in an effort to bolster their pursuit of a fourth successive Premier League title.