Crystal Palace and Liverpool are in advanced talks over the transfer of Ismaïla Sarr ahead of deadline day.
In association with The Kop Correspondent and Ldn Journo, we can exclusively reveal that Crystal Palace and Liverpool are in advanced talks for the transfer of Senegal international Ismaïla Sarr, in a deal that could be worth up to £55m including add ons.
Liverpool entered the race earlier last week but after both Al Itihad and Galatasaray pulled their interest, Andoni Iraola’s side are now in pole position to secure Sarr’s signature.
The 28-year-old has been pushing for a move away from South London, and even removed all Palace related content from his social media as he attempts to force the club’s hand.
Liverpool have been tracking Sarr for some time, and it appears that they could finally get their man, but are still monitoring Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh as an alternative option.
Sarr has pushed hard for the possibility of this move to arise and is determined to join Liverpool, as other sources have suggested.
The next two days are set to be huge for both Palace and Sarr’s futures.
Palace have huge decision to make
Not only does Sarr’s potential departure cause a huge headache for Pierre Sage, but it also means that Palace would need to reenter the market to find even more depth, which they needed already.
Selling now would leave very little time to find an adequate replacement, and a player of real quality would be needed to replace Palace’s top scorer from last season.
Sarr still has three years remaining on his current terms with Palace, and so the fee does feel lower than anticipated, but the information we have suggests that talks are advancing after Palace had rejected Liverpool’s initial approach of £45 million.
Sarr is replaceable for Palace as a player, but his output is not. He was the top scorer in the UEFA Conference League last season, and Palace’s standout attacking player in the Premier League too.
A sale would leave Palace with multiple areas of the pitch left unanswered for, and Pierre Sage needs to be backed fully in the next two days in order to have the best chance of success this season.
Sarr sale will add pressure on club to back Sage
Pierre Sage has had a far from ideal start to life in South London, with a disrupted pre-season and multiple players pushing for moves away from the club.
Whilst Maxence Lacroix was sold over a month ago, he is yet to be replaced, and the desperate need for further reinforcements in midfield and defence are also yet to be addressed.
Many names have been linked, but a lack of thrust and conviction have left Palace with an awful lot of work to do, and very little time to do it.
Very few names have been linked with Palace in terms of a potential replacement for Sarr, and the market for young wingers is somewhat lacking in terms of quality that would be ready now for a good price, but Sarr does look likely to depart and Palace will simply have to replace him and do so fast.
