After impressing for France, Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix is now on the radar of some of the Premier League's biggest clubs, as well a Bayern Munich. Lacroix made his debut for France against Brazil and is now the subject of interest from Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa.
Brace yourself for another difficult summer, Crystal Palace fans.
After a summer of hiding behind the sofa at every mention of Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi a year ago, it appears we are in for more of the same this summer, but this time with Adam Wharton and now Maxence Lacroix.
The 25-year-old has had another excellent season for The Eagles and has been a stand-out performer in the Conference League in particular.
It may have been due to William Saliba pulling out with injury, but Lacroix’s form was so good that he was recently called up to the France senior squad for the first time.
He made his Les Bleus debut off the bench in the 2-1 win over Brazil and then made his first senior start as France beat Colombia 3-1, in a game that saw Lacroix go head-to-head with Palace teammates Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Munoz.
But having looked perfectly at home at international level, and giving himself a genuine chance of making Didier Deschamps’ France squad for the World Cup this summer, Lacroix is attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
TeamTalk’s Graeme Bailey reported that Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa are three Premier League sides who hold a particular interest in signing the Frenchman, while German giants Bayern Munich are also monitoring Lacroix’s situation.
Palace fans will be glad to know that there is no release clause in Lacroix’s contract, allowing them to stall and to get the best possible deal out of a player who they signed for £18 million from Wolfsburg.
Lacroix, who is the quickest centre back in the Premier League statistically this season, could now go from being an extremely dependable member of the squad to being a player that is surely destined to leave, much like with Marc Guehi last summer, before his January departure.
A second source at TeamTalk has revealed that Bayern Munich are the side most likely to put in a bird first, with Bayern and Palace having previously done business when Lacroix’s France teammate Michael Olise joined from The Eagles in the summer of 2024.
Olise has since gone from being a top player with Palace under Glasner, in a front three with Eze and Mateta, who also looks destined to leave, to a world-class winger likely to start for France at the World Cup.
Lacroix has a contract at Selhurst Park untl 2029, which also puts Palace in a position of strength, though it is bringing back early painful memories of the departures of Olise and Eze.
Hopefully no deal materialises but if Lacroix keeps delivering, it has a sense of inevitability around it.