Crystal Palace reportedly refused to pay extra £1.5m for me and now I'm one of the best forwards in Europe

Today at 12:15 PM

Crystal Palace have come close to signing some of Europe’s best over the years.

Steve Parish has already admitted that the Eagles almost signed Alphonso Davies before he ended up at Bayern Munich, but could not secure a work permit for the Canadian.

Furthermore, Crystal Palace nearly signed Harry Kane before his breakthrough at Tottenham, with Neil Warnock memorably saying: “I tried to get him a few times when I came here. He is a good lad and you know what you are going to get with him. He is an exciting player. At the time, he was not involved and we felt there was a chance of getting him on loan.”

Warnock also famously admitted Crystal Palace almost signed Virgil van Dijk too – before his Chief Scout vetoed the deal after deeming the Dutchman to be too slow.

Now, another player Crystal Palace pursued – and were only £1.5m away from getting – has turned into a European superstar in Ademola Lookman.

Crystal Palace will surely be kicking themselves over Ademola Lookman

A story from the Mirror back in August 2016 claimed that Crystal Palace bid £4.5m to sign the Nigeria international when he was emerging at south London rivals Charlton.

At the time, Lookman, who Arsenal admire, only had a £6m release clause – the Independent claimed – although it was Everton who eventually signed the Londoner in an £11m deal in January 2017 once that release clause had expired.

Fast forward to now, and the man born in Wandsworth has just finished 14th in the Ballon d’Or rankings after a stunning 2023/24 campaign, in which he remarkably netted a hat-trick as Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League final.

Lookman, who also scored in Atalanta’s 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, netted 17 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions, and has already scored 11 in 18 games this term.

Needless to say, Crystal Palace missed out on a diamond when refusing to pay an extra £1.5m for the south Londoner back in 2016.

Crystal Palace looking to make amends with Romain Esse

Nowadays, there is another exciting winger shining for Millwall – also south London rivals for Crystal Palace – in Romain Esse, and the Eagles are keen not to let him slip away like Lookman, who Manchester United want.

A story from the Evening Standard just claimed that Crystal Palace have already entered talks to sign Esse in January – with the England U20 international holding a release clause worth just £12m in his contract.