Crystal Palace have made an offer worth up to £14m for Wolfsburg’s Maxence Lacroix as they step up their attempts to recruit a replacement for Joachim Andersen after accepting a bid of £30m for the Denmark defender from Fulham.
Andersen, who had less than two years of his contract at Selhurst Park remaining, is set to have his medical on Wednesday after Fulham made a breakthrough in negotiations by matching Palace’s valuation.
Marco Silva’s side had a £20m offer rejected earlier in the window but were determined to re-sign the player who spent a season on loan at Craven Cottage during the 2020-21 season before moving to Palace on a permanent deal from Lyon. Andersen is understood to have agreed a significant pay rise as part of his contract with Fulham.
Lacroix, who played under Oliver Glasner during his spell in charge of Wolfsburg, has entered the final year of his contract and is believed to be keen to reunite with the Austrian manager. Palace’s offer of an initial £12m contains a potential £2m in bonuses which it is hoped will tempt the German side into a sale. Palace are also believed to have shown an interest in Benfica’s Tomás Araújo, Bayer Leverkusen’s Odilon Kossounou and Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea.
Emiliano Martínez has said he signed a new contract with Aston Villa until 2029 because he is adamant the club will continue to break new ground.
Villa will compete in the Champions League this season, the club having qualified for Europe’s premier competition for the first time since 1982-83. The 31-year-old goalkeeper, who won the World Cup with Argentina in 2022 and his second Copa America this summer, is eying more silverware.
“I became the best in the world here and I want to continue developing myself,” Martínez said. “I feel like the club is moving forward every year. I have achieved everything as an international for Argentina in the last few years and I think that we can win a trophy here. That's something that is missing for this club.”
Martínez revealed he could have joined Villarreal, then managed by Unai Emery, when leaving Arsenal in August 2020 but joined Villa. Arsenal, for whom Martínez made 15 league appearances, visit Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday.
“I would not sign a contract if I was not excited for the season,” Martínez said. “I’m excited to play Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday.
“I'm someone who started playing when I was a little older so I still feel like a young lad playing. I want to win things, I want to keep clean sheets, I want to be the Golden Glove winner of the Premier League. There are a lot of things I want to achieve.” Ben Fisher
The decision to allow Andersen to depart raises more questions over the future of Marc Guéhi at Selhurst Park. Palace have rejected multiple bids for the England defender from Newcastle, who have now opened talks with Leverkusen over a potential move for the Burkina Faso defender Edmond Tapsoba. Newcastle have also been linked with Chelsea’s Axel Disasi. “I can’t imagine a situation where we would lose both of our centre-halves,” said the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, last week.
Andersen looks set to be joined at Fulham by Sander Berge after Burnley accepted an offer of £25m for the Norway midfielder. Berge has been earmarked as a replacement for João Palhinha after his move to Bayern Munich, with Fulham having already signed Emile Smith Rowe, Jorge Cuenca and Ryan Sessegnon.
Fulham have also made a bid of £12m plus add-ons for Lyon’s attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki. The 21-year-old, who also has interest from Palace, is in the final year of his contract and is expected to leave this month. A France Under-21 international and a product of Lyon’s academy, Cherki helped France win a silver medal at the Olympics this summer.
