Crystal Palace are close to signing former Lazio midfielder Daichi Kamada and Barcelona defender Chadi Riad.
The Japanese international Kamada played under Oliver Glasner at Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Kamada, who is currently available on a free transfer after failing to agree a new contract with Lazio, enjoys playing in an attacking role.
With Crystal Palace stars Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze attracting significant attention from other clubs this summer, Kamada could be an extremely valuable option for Palace next season should the pair be lost.
The midfielder is no stranger to success: he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022.
He had made a significant contribution to the club’s winning streak by scoring the decisive goal in the 2-1 victory in the semi-final first leg against West Ham.
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He also scored in the penalty shootout in the final against Rangers, which Frankfurt eventually won 5-4.
And his manager at the time of the Europa League victory was none other than the current head coach of Crystal Palace, Glasner.
Glasner is well aware of Kamada’s potential value to the London club, having worked with him in Frankfurt between 2021 and 2023.
The 27-year-old scored 40 goals in 179 appearances for Frankfurt during his entire time at the club.
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And Austrian coach Glasner obviously valued Kamada’s contribution, as 25 of those goals and 93 of those appearances came during his time as coach.
Both Kamada and Glasner left Frankfurt at the end of the 2022/23 season after a disappointing series.
In 2023, Kamada moved to Lazio, where he has since scored two goals in 38 appearances – but a new contract with the Italian team has fallen through.
Now he could reunite with Glasner at Selhurst Park after the Austrian produced some impressive results in the second half of the Premier League season.
And he appears to be the perfect addition to Palace’s resurgent side, having demonstrated his all-round attacking skills during his time in Germany.
Toby Gilles, The Pitch Prospect Bundesliga commentator and Eintracht Frankfurt fan:
“Kamada has completely transformed under Glasner in Frankfurt.
“He was always promising, but Glasner gave him a much freer role. He started as number 10, but sometimes also played from the left. He became a goalscorer and assist king.
“He’s one of those players who floats through games – really graceful and clever with his runs. And he’s selfless – in Adi Hütter’s last Bundesliga season with Frankfurt he provided 13 assists, but Glasner made him more selfish and saw more goalscoring potential in him, which proved to be the right thing to do.
“I’m not entirely sure why it didn’t work at Lazio, but if Palace get him and Glasner can resurrect him, that’s a HUGE coup. Given the way he sets up Palace, which is very similar to the way he set up Frankfurt, Kamada will be given a role behind the striker with bombarding full-backs in a 3-4-2-1 system.
“The only downside I see for Palace fans is that it looks very much like an Eze-type player is coming in… and I can’t imagine Kamada would be happy playing second fiddle.”
Meanwhile, Palace have also agreed a £15 million deal to sign Moroccan international Riad from Barcelona.
The 20-year-old centre-back spent last season on loan at Real Betis, where he made 30 appearances and helped the club qualify for the Europa Conference League with a seventh-place finish in LaLiga.
His loan deal included an option for Betis to sign him permanently at the end of the season, but Palace have agreed to sign him instead after talks with both Spanish clubs.
Riad is seen as a replacement for another Palace star who is expected to leave the club this summer, with numerous clubs lining up to sign England international Marc Guehi.