Crystal Palace are the new frontrunners to sign Eddie Nketiah after Nottingham Forest’s proposed deal for the Arsenal striker collapsed, sources have told ESPN.
Nketiah was expected to join Forest after the two clubs agreed a fee in the region of £30 million ($40m) last week but one source told ESPN the move stalled over the 25-year-old’s personal terms.
Palace have now begun negotiations at a similar level with one source suggesting an offer of £25m plus a further £5m in add-ons is under consideration.
Nketiah had previously been close to joining Marseille only for those talks to break down before Forest moved in, and Arsenal remain keen to secure an agreement before Friday’s transfer window deadline.
Speaking after Saturday’s 2-0 win at Aston Villa, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta suggested no deal was imminent.
“At the moment, Eddie is our player,” Arteta said. “He’s very committed to us. Regardless of the noise, he’s here and he wants to be here with us. He’s really happy that we won the game.”
Palace have money to spend after allowing Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen to depart while centre-back Marc Guéhi could also leave this week with Newcastle weighing up whether to make a fourth bid in the region of £70m.
Nketiah joined Arsenal aged 14 and has scored 38 goals in 168 appearances.