Crystal Palace determined to keep hold of key Tottenham transfer target

Tottenham have turned their attention to Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze in the past few weeks. It should come as no surprise, given how well he has performed when given the chance for England at EURO 2024. In fact, his substitute performances are one of the underlying reasons why England reached the final, providing more attacking fluidity late into lacklustre games.

However, Tottenham will not be alone in their pursuit to sign Eze. Particularly if England win the final, his stock price will only increase and teams not just in England would dream of bringing him in. Therefore, it is important that Tottenham are efficient in their dealings.

Of course, there is the option for Tottenham to pay the release clause, which would essentially render Crystal Palace as useless in their stance. Currently, Eberechi Eze has a £60m release clause in his contract, which means Tottenham would only need to pay £60m to skip straight to negotiations over personal terms with the player.

However, Daniel Levy has always driven a hard bargain. He is a businessman who is always difficult to please and he follows the old school business model of ABC, "Always Be Cost-cutting". Therefore, he would like to secure Eze for less than his release clause, if possible.

Crystal Palace determined to keep hold of key Tottenham transfer target

He might struggle with that, though. The release clause is there for a reason, as Crystal Palace would ideally like for nobody to activate it, hence why it is set so high.

Indeed, according to a report by Football Insider, Crystal Palace are doing everything behind the scenes to keep Eberechi Eze at the club this summer. This is despite interest from Tottenham and Manchester United.

Of course, Crystal Palace's reluctance to sell can be understood. They have already lost one of their key players in Michael Olise, who joined Bayern Munich. Therefore, they cannot afford to lose another star player, regardless of the financial incentive.

It is not yet reported what Crystal Palace's actions are behind the scenes to keep hold of Eze but it is bad news for Tottenham. They must step up their interest if they wish to sign Eze.

Where do you think Eberechi Eze will be playing next season?