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Newcastle are reportedly are lining up a fresh £45million summer swoop for Crystal Palace’s exciting playmaker Eberechi Eze.

Eddie Howe’s men were said to have offered the Eagles £5m in the January transfer window to take their playmaker on loan for the rest of the season with a view to a £35m permanent switch at the end of the season.

However, that offer was unsurprisingly snubbed by Palace. They did not want to offload one of their best players to a rival mid-season.

But Newcastle, with more cash to splash this summer after their Saudi takeover last year, are confident they can still land Eze – as reported in The Sun.

Whatsmore, The Sun adds that Palace may even be tempted to double the £17m they splashed out to sign Eze from QPR in the summer of 2020.

The 23-year-old scored four times in 34 Premier League games last season. However, he suffered an Achilles injury late in the campaign.

That injury has restricted him to just one Premier League start so far this term. And he was an unused sub in the recent 0-0 draw with Brentford. Michael Olise was instead preferred coming off the bench in that game.

Eze still has three-and-a-half years left to run on his contract. But the report adds that with Palace playing well without him, they could decide to cash in and strengthen other areas of Patrick Vieira’s team.

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Palace fearing the worst over Zaha

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace are fearing the worst as one of their most influential players, Wilfried Zaha, could reportedly leave the club for free next year.

Zaha has been one of Palace’s best players over the past few years. Indeed, since returning from a tough spell with Manchester United he has found his feet again in south London.

The Ivorian international has scored 53 top-flight goals, all of them with Palace. What’s more, he is the club’s all-time leading scorer in the Premier League.

However, the Daily Mail suggests the 29-year-old will not extend his contract at Selhurst Park.

Zaha’s contract is up next summer. And there is a feeling that he will leave Palace for free, rather than extend his stay.

There has been speculation about the winger moving on for much of his second spell with the club. It has seemed that he is a big fish in a small pond for some time, thanks to his consistent performances.

Palace, however, clearly do not want to see the talisman move on. Patrick Vieira described him as a “leader” in the initial stages of his tenure.

Speculation will now continue, as there are limited opportunities to ship Zaha out for a fee, rather than lose him for nothing.

The likes of Arsenal and Chelsea have both been interested in the past. Although, the Eagles held out for £80 million when the Gunners and Everton were interested back in 2019.

Now, though, the star’s price tag will be much lower, and Palace may need to entertain the idea of selling.

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