Potential rift between Crystal Palace and Patrick Vieira cited after Man Utd move ‘explored’

A potential rift between Crystal Palace and their manager Patrick Vieira has been cited after a signing from Manchester United was reportedly ‘explored’.

Palace’s transfer business this season has been focused on recruiting youthfully and for the future. They brought in a number of young players last summer and have since been linked with the likes of Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, 22, and Derby County teenager Luke Plange.

However, The Athletic claim Vieira was pushing away from that model to get a loan deal for Donny van de Beek done.

The Frenchman wants to add some experience to his squad. And it was him who was leading the charge for the United outcast.

That’s despite the fact that he’d have little positive impact long-term. There was no hope of signing him on a permanent basis at the end of the loan.

And Van de Beek would only have featured for 15 games if he moved to Selhurst Park.

For that return Palace would have had to invest a hefty sum of money towards his £100k-per-week wages.

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Not only that, but they would have had to sacrifice the progress of one of their other attackers. Eberechi Eze, for example, is already struggling for game time.

Ultimately, Van de Beek instead joined Everton.

However, the clash in opinion between Vieira and Palace could spell trouble for the future.

It does seem that they don’t see fully eye-to-eye on their transfer approach. Sporting director Dougie Freedman is the man in charge of that area.

But it’s noted that Vieira does have the ‘manager’ title, which usually brings with it power over transfers. So there could be further disagreements down the line.

Meanwhile, Palace have turned their attention