Crystal Palace are one of several teams closely monitoring the availability of Flamengo midfielder Matheus Franca.
What’s the latest on Matheus França to Crystal Palace?
According to AS, the South London outfit, as well as Real Madrid, Lyon, Newcastle, and Bayer Leverkusen are all keenly tracking the 19-year-old.
The outlet revealed that the Brazilian's current contract runs until 2028, and he has a termination clause of a whopping €200m (£176m) but Palace are still “determined” to find an agreement for the player.
The Eagles hierarchy had reportedly sent a representative across the globe to scout Franca in Flamengo's 2-0 Copa Libertadores victory over Nublense at the Maracana.
However, this talent has a range of admirers and Los Blancos have supposedly followed this saga since 2021, whilst Newcastle and Leverkusen have had offers of around €20m (£18m) rejected.
To the delight of Palace fans, it has been suggested that the Flamengo board “does not look badly” on opening negotiations with the English side.
What would Matheus Franca bring to Crystal Palace?
The playmaker made his senior debut for Flamengo in December 2021 in a Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A match against Santos.
In his homeland, he established a hugely popular and esteemed reputation and is considered one of Mais querido do Brasil’s finest young products after Real Madrid phenom Vinicius Junior.
The £4m-rated prodigy has also represented Brazil at various youth levels, including the U16, U17, and U20 levels.
To showcase his ridiculous gift, 30 games into last season, Franca had registered 29 goal contributions, which led football scout Jacek Kulig to describe the player as “one of the most exciting teenagers in Brazil”, who can “play almost everywhere.”
His pace, unteachable skill, close control, and agility would perfectly complement fellow playmaker Eberechi Eze, who is another maestro brimming with irresistible mastery.
The Englishman has recorded the second-highest rating (6.94) of any Palace player this season and is the club’s top league scorer with eight goals, as per WhoScored.
The 24-year-old has also created 42 chances in all competitions this season at a rate of 1.27 per 90 to underline his formidable creativity.
The Eagles have only netted 31 top-flight goals this term, which is the 14th lowest in the division, so an injection of the Brazilian's dynamism, alongside the graceful and unparalleled natural ability of Eze, could be an unrelenting partnership.
However, this saga remains a hotly contested race and Palace would do tremendously to beat off the interest from other European giants who are also eyeing a summer move.