The £14m signing who could help Crystal Palace continue bold charge up the table next season
It’s less rumour and more established fact at this point – Crystal Palace are on the cusp of completing their first signing of the summer in the form of Real Betis centre-half Chadi Riad, with the Daily Mail reporting that he is due to undergo a medical on Monday ahead of a move that will set the Eagles back an initial £12.7m with a further £1.7m in add-ons. But how good is the Morocco international, and is he ready to go straight into the first team?
Palace have pushed a youth-first transfer policy in the past few seasons, looking to continue the work done with the signing of players like Michael Olise by developing further fresh talent that can either be sold for a profit or form the spine of the team for the foreseeable future, and Riad fits the template – he has just one season of senior football under his belt and is far from fully proven, but has considerable talent.
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Physically impressive – Riad, who turns 21 in June, is 6’3” with a good leap and has a very respectable turn of pace – the young centre-back joined La Masia in 2019 after spending most of his early youth career with Mallorca and made three senior appearances for Barcelona in the 2022/23 season before joining Betis on a deal which was initially only a loan but which was swiftly made permanent for a fee of around €3m (£2.6m). Quickly establishing himself as a regular in the Betis side, he made 24 La Liga starts and 30 appearances in total in the past year, impressing with his presence, anticipation and sound technique. Scanning social media reveals plenty of Betis fans who are sad to see him move on.
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