Crystal Palace actually decided against signing a target from 2023 before settling on Chadi Riad.
A new central defender is on the agenda for Oliver Glasner and Dougie Freedman this summer after James Tomkins departed at the end of last season – while there are also doubts over the future of Marc Guehi.
A £15m deal has since been struck with Real Betis for Chadi Riad – who is set to be announced within the coming days – although Crystal Palace actually decided to ignore a 2023 target in favour of signing the Morocco international…
Crystal Palace overlooked Cristhian Mosquera
A story from the Evening Standard now claims that Crystal Palace considered a move to sign Valencia No.3 Cristhian Mosquera before eventually settling on Riad.
The Spain U21 international has been linked with a move to Selhurst Park since December 2023 – which is when the The Sun first revealed that he was an option to replace Guehi.
Now – however – we seem to have abandoned our pursuit of Mosquera, ultimately deciding that a deal to sign Riad made more sense this summer.
In our view, this decision was made with finances in mind.
Mosquera only recently signed a new contract at Valencia in March which runs until the summer of 2026 – putting the Spanish side in a far stronger negotiating position to demand more money.
Contrastingly, sources in Spain – namely Estadio Deportivo – believe Real Betis found the offer for Riad to be very enticing, amidst a summer where they could do with making some cash.
Why Chadi Riad is yet to be announced
Crystal Palace fans are probably wondering where exactly Riad is.
It has now been two weeks since Fabrizio Romano first dropped his trademark “here we go” on the deal, so a few fans might be feeling a bit worried about the move collapsing – but fear not.
A story from the Mirror states that Crystal Palace are yet to officially announce Riad’s arrival due to Morocco’s upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers – and will then present the defender after those games.
Therefore, Crystal Palace fans have no need to panic whatsoever.
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