Crystal Palace are vying with Fulham to sign Emile Smith Rowe but Arsenal are expected to reject their offer for the England attacker.
Fulham’s bid worth up to £30m including add-ons was turned down by Arsenal earlier this week and Mikel Arteta is understood to want to keep Smith Rowe despite using him sparingly last season. Palace are believed to be preparing an offer of £35m including bonuses to try to tempt their London rivals into cashing in on the 23-year-old.
Fulham are also expected to return with an improved bid for Smith Rowe, who made three Premier League starts last season and played only 346 minutes having been sidelined with a knee injury at the end of last year. He is due to depart for Arsenal’s pre-season tour to the United States on Sunday, with Arteta set to decide on the academy graduate’s future. Smith Rowe won the last of his three senior England caps in 2022 after finishing as Arsenal’s top scorer with 10 goals but has since slipped down the pecking order at the Emirates.
Born and raised in Croydon, where he played for local side Junior Elite, Smith Rowe fits the profile of signing Palace have been looking to make in recent years and is wanted by their manager, Oliver Glasner, to help replace Michael Olise following his move to Bayern Munich. They also have a longstanding interest in Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah, although the success of Jean-Philippe Mateta at the of last season means signing a new striker has become less of a priority at Selhurst Park.
Liverpool have been strongly linked with a move for Marc Guéhi, although Palace are expected to demand around £70m for the England defender despite him having only two years left on his contract. Tottenham and Arsenal have yet to follow up their interest in Eberechi Eze, who would cost a similar amount.
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Palace are also set to decide whether to give the former Fulham defender Ryan Sessegnon a contract after he spent the last few weeks training with them following his departure from Tottenham.
Source: theguardian.com
