Crystal Palace have made Wolverhampton Wanderers and England U21 midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White their “priority target” this summer, according to talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder spent last season on loan in the Championship with Sheffield United, but is now attracting Premier League interest on his return to Wolves.
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What’s the latest on Gibbs-White?
Everton are the first club to back up their interest in Gibbs-White with an official transfer bid, thought to be in the region of £20m, for the forward-minded midfielder being turned down by Wolves.
Bruno Lage’s side have offered their youth academy prospect a new deal, as a “show of faith”, after the midfielder has been adjudged to have matured and improved greatly over the last 12 months.
Whilst Wolves have no intention of selling, this hasn’t stopped Premier League interest in the midfielder, with Palace and Nottingham Forest also being linked to Gibbs-White.
And Crook believes that Patrick Vieira and the Eagles have made Gibbs-White their “priority target” this summer, as the club look to replace Conor Gallagher, who returned to Chelsea after his campaign on loan at Selhurst Park last season.
What has Crook said about Gibbs-White?
He told GIVEMESPORT: “There’s lots of clubs in for him as far afield as AC Milan.
“Palace, having missed out on Flynn Downes, have made him their priority target.
“Wolves are looking for £20m.
“I think he’ll probably leave.”
Would Gibbs-White be a good signing for Palace?
The signing of Gibbs-White would go a long way to replacing the aforementioned Gallagher, with the midfielder being versatile enough to play in both central and attacking midfield, as well as playing anywhere across a front-three if needed.
The 5 foot 10 attacking midfielder made 37 appearances during his loan spell at Sheffield United last season, scoring 12 goals and providing ten assists during that time, according to Transfermarkt.
Gibbs-White also scored for Wolves last season, grabbing a goal in the club’s 4-0 Carabao Cup rout of Nottingham Forest before his loan to the Blades was completed.
Last season was the first time in the seven-time England U21 international’s career that he got a regular run of games, playing 2,865 minutes of football, according to FBref.
And an average SofaScore rating of 7.16 for his Championship performances last season suggest that when called upon, he was capable of putting in consistently excellent performances on a regular basis.
Overall, Crystal Palace could do much worse than taking a punt on Gibbs-White, who has shown all he needs to show to be given a genuine run-out in the Premier League, and Vieira’s system at Palace might suit the England U21 international down to the ground.