Palace & Vieira eye French maestro as possible Gallagher replacement; Grealish says he's 'class'

Crystal Palace have ‘watched’ Aston Villa’s Morgan Sanson ahead of the summer transfer window, according to French outlet Jeunes Footeux (via Sport Witness).

Villa paid £14.2million to sign Sanson from Olympique Marseille in January 2021, but it hasn’t really worked out for him in The Midlands.

Sanson has only started two Premier League games this season, playing just 242 top-flight minutes in total, and has suffered a string of injuries.

Now valued at £12.6million by Transfermarkt, he’s under contract for another three and a half years.

Patrick Vieira did add two central midfielders to his ranks last summer in the form of Will Hughes and Conor Gallagher, but he knows the latter is due to return to Chelsea at the end of his loan.

‘It would not be surprising,’ the report states, if Sanson left Villa Park come the summer.

They claim he’s failed to win over manager Steven Gerrard since his appointment in the autumn, and so the 41-year-old could sanction his departure.

Palace are among the clubs ‘alerted’ to his situation, along with French sides Lille and Rennes.

Significantly, the Ligue 1 teams would prefer to do a loan deal rather than buy Sanson outright.

Sanson has earned plaudits when he’s actually featured, with team-mate Emiliano Martinez dubbing him ‘outstanding’ and ex-Villan Jack Grealish describing him as ‘class’.

He’s someone who can provide goal and assists from midfield, like Gallagher, as evidenced by his tally of 47 goal contributions in 157 appearances for Marseille.

But ability counts for little without availability, and Palace need to be wary here. There’s a reason Villa are reportedly willing to cut their losses.

The Eagles should avoid a move if they have any doubts about Sanson’s capacity to overcome