Crystal Palace Eyeing ‘Magician’ to Replace Eberechi Eze

Crystal Palace have already started making contingency plans to replace England star Eberechi Eze, who has been largely linked with Arsenal in recent weeks – with reports suggesting that they will try to land Morocco star Bilal El Khannouss from Leicester City after a decent showing in his Premier League debut campaign.

Eze has been Palace’s shining star for a number of seasons now, becoming a club legend for his contributions in the FA Cup last season – with strikes in the quarter-final, semi-final and the only goal in the final, recording Palace’s first-ever major trophy as a result. His silky performances have seen Arsenal interested, with Fabrizio Romano stating that the Gunners ‘remain in contact’ for the Eagles star – though there have yet to be club-to-club talks for his signature just yet.

Sky Sports: El Khannouss Could be Palace’s Replacement

The Moroccan showed glimpses of quality at Leicester last season

However, despite the lack of movement, Palace must prepare for the future if Eze does depart – with creativity likely to be lacking if their London-born hero does venture on to new pastures.

And with that in mind, the report by Sky Sports journalist Sacha Tavolieri states that Palace have placed El Khannouss on their shortlist to replace Eze, who has been heavily linked with a move to join Mikel Arteta over the remaining month of the transfer window.

The Morocco star was one of Leicester’s few shining lights last season after joining from Genk, scoring only twice in the top-flight but acting as the club’s creative spark and being a dangerous ‘magician’ in their ranks, as they battled against relegation throughout the campaign.

It wasn’t enough to keep them in the league, with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s appointment after the sacking of Steve Cooper in November. A run of just one win and 15 losses in 16 games saw Leicester crumble, including a run of eight games without a goal, and just six goals in 18 games in the second-half of the campaign saw them notch just four points from mid-December to early May, being relegated to the Championship in the process.

But if El Khannouss can feature more heavily in a prominent Palace side under a superb coach in Oliver Glasner, as well as having the security of a strong defence and being a star in European competition, it could well be the making of his career as a consistent top-flight player.

Statistics courtesy of WhoScored. Correct as of 28-07-25.

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