Crystal Palace are in talks with Schalke over a fee for Ozan Kabak but face competition from several other clubs to sign the Turkey defender, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Liverpool.
Patrick Vieira is keen to add more depth to his squad having signed the England Under-21 defender Marc Guehi from Chelsea and believes Kabak could thrive in the Premier League given regular opportunities. Liverpool rejected the chance to sign buy the 21-year-old for an initial £18m after he made 13 appearances last season, with Ibrahima Konaté purchased from RB Leipzig instead.
It is believed that Schalke – relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in more than 30 years last season – will accept a much lower fee of about £10m-12m for Kabak even though he has three years on his contract. There is interest from clubs in Germany and Spain, although it is understood Leicester are not targeting him despite reports that the former Galatasaray and Stuttgart player could link up with his Turkey teammate Caglar Soyuncu under Brendan Rodgers.
Palace have also expressed interest in signing Conor Gallagher from Chelsea despite backing out of a loan for the England Under-21 midfielder last summer when they opted to borrow Michy Batshuayi instead. The Celtic striker Odsonne Édouard, who worked with Palace’s new development coach Saïd Aïgoun at Paris Saint-Germain’s academy, is another potential target.
Gary Cahill is one of the remaining members of last season’s squad expected to be offered a new deal after the departures of Andros Townsend and Wayne Hennessey.