Crystal Palace are considering a surprise move for Andoni Iraola as they step up their search for a new manager this summer.
Palace will part ways with Oliver Glasner at the end of the campaign, and the club are looking for the right coach to build on playing European football this season and winning their first major trophy a year ago.
Iraola, 43, is regarded as one of the best young coaches in the Premier League after his work at Bournemouth and is understood to be regarded as a potential candidate at Selhurst Park in what would be a highly ambitious move.
The Basque coach is out of contract at the Vitality Stadium this summer and has given no clear indication of his next move. He could yet stay on the south coast, where he has assembled an attractive team over the last three years.
But he has also been linked with Champions League clubs and his hometown team, Athletic Bilbao, for whom he played more than 500 games before going into coaching.
While Iraola has played his cards close to his chest concerning his future, he could be tempted by another football “project” of building a team rather than one of the Premier League heavyweights, where results are demanded immediately in multiple competitions.