Crystal Palace Tipped to Rival Atlético Madrid for €35m-Rated Rayan Aït Nouri
By Tom Gott
Crystal Palace will have to pay at least €35m if they want to strike a summer deal for Angers left-back Rayan Aït Nouri.
The 18-year-old, who has made his breakthrough into the senior side this season, was loosely linked with a January switch to Selhurst Park, but nothing ever came of the speculation.
However, Le Quotidien du Foot report that the interest is still there. It is said that 'almost everybody' is following Aït Nouri, but it is Palace and Atlético Madrid who have shown the most serious interest.
Angers rejected a €30m bid from a 'top club in the Premier League' in January, but it is thought that €35m would be enough to get a deal over the line.
Such an asking price would be pretty bold from Angers. Aït Nouri will enter the final 12 months of his contract this summer and has just 20 senior appearances to his name, so to see any side spend that kind of money on him would be hugely surprising.
A €35m deal would make Aït Nouri Palace's record signing, eclipsing the £27m which the Eagles paid for Christian Benteke in 2016. Given how poorly that deal has worked out - Benteke has managed just 22 goals in 111 appearances - it's hard to see Palace throwing that kind of money around on an unfinished youngster.
Having said that, Aït Nouri has looked fairly impressive in those 20 outings. He racked up three assists this season before being sidelined with a fractured jaw, helping Angers up to tenth in Ligue 1 before play was suspended.
He has attracted interest from both Manchester City and Manchester United, who have both been rumoured to be the team who submitted to €30m mystery bid, and he has already earned a spot in France's Under-21 side.
Ultimately, unless Palace sell some of their current squad, it's hard to see them spending so much on Aït Nouri. They only forked out around £5m in the summer of 2019 and spent most of their time looking at loan deals and free transfers, so it doesn't look like there's an abundance of funds for Roy Hodgson to play with.
West Bromwich Albion's Nathan Ferguson is believed to be another target. A January move for the teenager collapsed over a failed medical, but Palace are now said to be 'very confident' of signing him for free this summer when his contract expires.