Oliver Glasner has urged Crystal Palace to inject more creativity into their squad during the January transfer window, and the club appear to be responding.
Crystal Palace are reported to have reached an agreement with Ligue 1 side Angers for the signing of striker Sidiki Cherif, beating off competition from clubs across Europe to land the highly rated teenager.
Glasner’s squad have struggled in recent weeks as the demands of Premier League, Carabao Cup, Conference League and FA Cup commitments have exposed a lack of depth. The Eagles’ thin squad has begun to show signs of fatigue, contributing to a mid-season dip in form.
A shock 2-1 defeat to Macclesfield at the weekend underlined the need for reinforcements. Brennan Johnson has already arrived from Tottenham, and Cherif now looks set to follow him through the door.
Crystal Palace strike deal for Sidiki Cherif
Palace have been linked with Cherif for several weeks, with the 19-year-old also attracting interest earlier in the season from Newcastle United, Sunderland and Championship side Wrexham.
According to OneFootball, European heavyweights AC Milan, Borussia Monchengladbach, Hamburg and Stuttgart were also monitoring the striker, but Cherif was keen on a move to the Premier League. A fee of around €25 million is believed to have been agreed.
Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg provided an update on Wednesday, posting on X: “Sidiki Cherif is close to joining Crystal Palace. An agreement has been reached with the talented 19-year-old striker, following reports from Fabrice Hawkins. The next step is to finalise the details with Angers.”
Paris FC turn attention to Tottenham forward
OneFootball reported that Paris FC were the final club competing with Palace for Cherif’s signature, but the French side stepped away once it became clear the player wanted to move to England.
Paris FC are still searching for a new forward, and Palace’s agreement with Angers is expected to sharpen their interest in Tottenham attacker Mathys Tel. Plettenberg previously revealed that Paris FC were working on a deal for Tel, who has grown frustrated with limited game time in North London.
Tottenham are currently blocking approaches for Tel, who joined permanently from Bayern Munich last summer for £30 million. While the forward has started the last two Premier League matches, he had endured a run of 11 games without a place in the starting line-up prior to that.