Crystal Palace stance on Cheick Doucoure transfer

Crystal Palace would only consider 'a very big proposal' to sell Cheick Doucoure this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

With a week left of the summer transfer window, Liverpool are still in the market for a fourth midfielder, after the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Soboszlai and Wataru Endo.

Reports claim the club want a versatile operator rather than a specialist 'number six', with Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich), Andre Trindade (Fluminense) and Doucoure the three names most heavily linked.

23-year0-old Doucoure, who was Palace's Player of the Year in 2022/23, has mostly featured in a defensive role for the Eagles but has been used in other positions in his career.

Liverpool's reported interest in Doucoure goes back several weeks but, while Romano has backed up claims that the Mail international is high on the Reds' watch list, he may be prohibitively expensive as Palace do not want to sell.

READ MORE: Cheick Doucoure vs Joao Palhinha – who would suit Liverpool best?

“Doucoure is a player who is highly rated by Liverpool,” Romano said on his Here We Go podcast. “People on the board and Jurgen Klopp really appreciate him. The problem is Crystal Palace. That’s why at the moment we can’t mention a proper negotiation between Liverpool and Crystal Palace or an advanced negotiation.

“The appreciation is there, the player is high on the list of Liverpool but after losing important players Crystal Palace are really fighting to keep their players at the club. They don’t want to sell anyone, this is what Palace are communicating. It would take a very big proposal to change the situation around Doucoure.”

Romano gives no indiction of how much it would take to bring Palace to the table, though previous reports have speculated that Doucoure would cost up to £70m.

Speaking before his side's Premier League defeat to Arsenal, Roy Hodgson discussed Michael Olise's decision to reject a move to Chelsea, suggesting the Eagles can offer something 'worth having' to their star players.

He said: "Michael (Olise) was a really important player for the good spell that we had towards the end of last season.

"We are delighted that he decided to choose Crystal Palace over a potential move to Chelsea and it’s nice to know that we can offer players something which they consider worth having."