Crystal Palace are finalising a deal to sign Evann Guessand on loan from Aston Villa and are considering whether to continue their pursuit of £50million-valued Jorgen Strand Larsen after talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The arrival of one of the forwards is likely to trigger the sale of Jean-Philippe Mateta, after a £35million bid from Nottingham Forest and interest from AC Milan.
Palace rekindled interest in Guessand after missing out on signing him during the summer, and he travelled to London on Thursday evening to complete a six-month loan agreement.
However, Palace have paused talks regarding a permanent deal for Strand Larsen, seemingly over Wolves’ valuation, which is about £45million plus £5million in add-ons. The Norway forward has scored only one goal in 21 Premier League appearances this season after 14 in the previous campaign. Earlier this month, Leeds United had a £33million bid for the 25-year-old rejected and West Ham United had an offer to loan him with an obligation to buy turned down. Forest have also been interested in the striker.
Mateta has indicated that he would like to leave Palace in search of European football
DAVID KLEIN/REUTERS
The Palace sporting director, Matt Hobbs, signed Strand Larsen, initially on loan from Celta Vigo, in 2024 when he was working in the same role at Wolves. The deal, worth £25.5million, became permanent in July when certain clauses were triggered.
Strand Larsen was the subject of rejected offers from Newcastle United last summer and he signed a new deal until 2030 in September.
Guessand, 24, has struggled to establish himself at Villa, starting only six league games, and the club signed another striker, Tammy Abraham, from Besiktas this month. The Ivory Coast forward has made 21 appearances in total since Villa signed him for £26 million in August last year. His two goals have both come in the Europa League. Last season he scored 12 goals as Nice finished fourth in France’s Ligue 1.
Guessand has fallen to third in the pecking order at Villa after the signing of Abraham
DANIELA PORCELLI/GETTY IMAGES
Palace have been under pressure to strengthen after Oliver Glasner, the manager, voiced his unhappiness with the depth of his squad in attack. They signed Brennan Johnson, an attacking midfielder, from Tottenham Hotspur for £35million. Glasner was dealt a blow after Eddie Nketiah suffered a hamstring injury and the forward was ruled out until the middle of February.
Palace are willing to sell Mateta, who has told the club he wants to leave because they do not match his ambition. Forest need a No9 because of the knee injury suffered by Chris Wood in October. The 34-year-old scored 20 times last season but is yet to feature under Sean Dyche, Forest’s head coach.
De Zerbi could leave Marseille after Champions League exit
Roberto De Zerbi’s future at Marseille is in doubt after the head coach held talks with officials at the French club.
His position has come under scrutiny after Marseille lost 3-0 to Club Bruges on Wednesday and failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League. On Thursday De Zerbi did not take training with his squad, who are preparing to play Paris FC on Saturday. Marseille are third in the Ligue 1 table at present, seven points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
This month, Marseille completed the loan signing of Ethan Nwaneri, the Arsenal attacking midfielder, who scored on debut in a 3-1 win over Lens. In April, De Zerbi considered leaving after a 3-1 defeat by Reims. He joined Marseille in the summer of 2024 after two seasons with Brighton & Hove Albion and has won 38, drawn seven, and lost 21 of his 66 games in charge.
Meanwhile, Oleksandr Zinchenko, 29, is set to join Ajax from Arsenal for £1.3million plus potential bonuses. The left back’s loan deal at Nottingham Forest, initially for the season, has been terminated early. He joined Arsenal from Manchester City for £32million in 2022.