Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace take on Burnley on Saturday (Photo: Getty)
Roy Hodgson says it ‘won’t be long’ before Tottenham and Manchester City target Eberechi Eze signs a new contract with Crystal Palace.
Eze is one of the Premier League’s most exciting midfield talents, having recorded 10 goals and four assists for the Eagles last season.
His performances have earned him call ups to the England squad and inevitably attracted interest from top clubs, with City and Spurs monitoring the 25-year-old last summer.
In the end, they opted to move for Matheus Nunes and Brennan Johnson respectively, but the links have remained ever since, with Eze’s contract close to entering its final 18 months.
It will be a relief for Palace fans then, that Hodgson has revealed that the club is close to agreeing fresh terms with their talisman, so soon after securing the futures of several more of their key players.
‘We had the good news with Michael Olise earlier in the year, and now those two [Jordan Ayew and Sam Johnstone],’ the Palace boss said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash at Burnley.
‘I believe the club are working very hard with Eberechi Eze and they are very confident it won’t be too long before they can announce him as well.
Eberechi Eze’s joined Palace from QPR in 2020 (Photo: Getty)
‘These matters are taken care of by Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman, they keep me informed. But certainly, they are optimistic it won’t take too long to get Eze to commit his future as well.’
Eze has been out for the last month with a thigh injury, while a similar issue has kept winger Olise on the sidelines since the summer, and the South Londoners have suffered as a result, scoring just once in their last three games.
With their league position slipping, Hodgson was delighted to announce that the pair are back in training though only one appears fit enough for the trip to Turf Moor.
Michael Olise signed a new Palace deal in the summer amid strong interest from Chelsea (Photo: Getty)
He added: ‘They’re making good strides. We’ve had the benefit of Ebs being released to us this week, so he’s taken part in training pretty much as normal.
‘Michael Olise is making good strides too but the sports science people are a little bit more careful with him, so they haven’t released him to us to the same extent, but he has taken part in parts of the training sessions and he’s looking good.
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‘I’m pretty hopeful that next week he will be like Ebere Eze, released to train fully with the group. [They will return] before the break without a doubt and hopefully even for the Everton game, it’s not out of the question. It will depend to some extent how both deal with the week’s training.
‘In Ebs’ case, that will be two weeks’ training, and in Michael’s case it will be just one full week’s training – but I’ve got to say they look good.’
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