Crystal Palace are set to complete the signing of the United States defender Chris Richards for an initial £10m from Bayern Munich but have been frustrated in attempts to prise Morgan Gibbs-White from Wolves.
Richards, who joined Bayern from the MLS side FC Dallas in 2018, is expected to sign a five-year deal at Selhurst Park after completing his medical on Thursday. He spent the past 18 months on loan at Hoffenheim.
“I think we showed [with this deal] that we can attract players. When you look at the number of teams that were behind him and he decided to come to us, I think this is a really strong statement,” said Patrick Vieira after Palace’s 1-1 draw with Premier League rivals Leeds United in a pre-season friendly in Australia. “He’s going to give us different options at the back and competitiveness between players. I’m really pleased that an important player like that decided to come to Palace.”
Vieira is also hoping to secure a replacement for Conor Gallagher, who has returned to Chelsea after his loan last season, and had identified Gibbs-White as his main target after missing out on Flynn Downes when the midfielder joined West Ham from Swansea.
But it is understood that the England Under-21 midfielder would prefer to fight for his place at Molineux after spending last season on loan at Sheffield United. Wolves are likely to want more than £25m for a player who scored 11 goals and got nine assists in the Championship with United.
Nottingham Forest and Everton have also shown interest in Gibbs-White, who was part of England’s Under-17 World Cup-winning team in 2017 under Forest’s manager, Steve Cooper.
