Crystal Palace have already nicked a player from under the nose of West Ham United boss David Moyes and they could be about to do it again.
West Ham and Crystal Palace fans all know the well-trodden story by now.
Hammers boss David Moyes desperately wanted to sign Eberechi Eze from QPR last summer.
But West Ham did not have the £16m – plus a further £4m in potential add-ons – to get a deal done until they had sold Grady Diangana.
Moyes rued missing out to Palace for Eze
“I think the timing for Eze, we didn’t have the finances at the time to go for Eze when that deal was becoming available,” Moyes explained last season.
“Things only changed for us late in the (2020 summer) window as far as finances went really because we had other priorities like we were trying to get a central defender in, we were looking at a full-back at the time as well.
“At that time we hadn’t got a great deal of money to spend. That changed as the window went on, [Grady] Diangana left and it just freed up a little bit of money as we went on but at the time we just weren’t there for Eze because we didn’t have the financial capabilities to do that at the time,” he added.
Eze shone for Palace and looked an absolute steal for the Eagles.
Hammers alternative Benrahma starting to prove his worth
Meanwhile, Moyes’s alternative Said Benrahma struggled to establish himself in the West Ham team and scored just one goal all season.
The fortunes of Eze and Benrahma have changed since with the Crystal Palace man now out injured possibly until 2022 while Benrahma has looked extremely sharp after having a full pre-season, equalling the total number of goals he scored last season in the first 90 minutes of this.
West Ham and Palace are both looking to sign a striker before the window closes. Although the suggestion is that Moyes would settle for Jesse Lingard or a player of a similar ilk who can fill in as a second striker.
Now it appears Palace could beat West Ham to another of Moyes’s reported longstanding targets – Celtic forward Odsonne Edouard.
Now Eagles could swoop to beat West Ham to reported Moyes target Edouard
New reports circulating this weekend from the likes of Eurosport suggest Palace are now battling West Ham for Frenchman Edouard.
And The Daily Express claims Palace is his ‘most likely destination’.
Edouard is out of contract at Celtic next summer and is said to be available for as little as £15 million.
At 23 and with pace, power and excellent hold-up play, Edouard certainly seems to fit Moyes’s recruitment strategy.
But Palace are now led by French legend Patrick Vieira which could be a big factor in any move.
The big question for the former Paris Saint-Germain man is whether he can make the step up to the Premier League.
Whether Palace beat West Ham to Edouard will become clear very soon with the transfer window closing in 10 days.
In other news, West Ham fan who worked with Moyes for 10 years explains why ITKs and press struggle.
And money is no object for striker with so why would he join West Ham?