Tottenham Hotspur are keeping a close eye on the situation of Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze, according to a report.
The 25-year-old has gone from strength to strength since joining the Eagles from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, commanding a £15.4m fee to leave the Championship club.
Eze has since registered 15 goals and 11 assists in 93 games for Palace, although his development was hampered by an Achilles problem in the 2021-22 season.
However, Eze shone for the Eagles last term with 10 goals and four assists from 38 Premier League games as Roy Hodgson's side quashed any talk of a relegation dogfight with an 11th-placed finish.
The attacker's exploits from a wide range of positions also caught the eye of England boss Gareth Southgate, who handed Eze his first senior call-up for June's Euro 2024 qualifiers with Malta and North Macedonia, where the Palace man made his debut off the bench in the former game.
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Eze's contract at Selhurst Park has just under two years left to run, but the England international is alleged to have turned down the chance to extend his deal with Palace as Big Six clubs come calling for his signature.
According to football.london, Tottenham Hotspur are monitoring developments surrounding Eze's future, as his agency CAA Base already represent several existing Spurs players.
Richarlison, Pedro Porro, James Maddison, Pape Sarr and Son Heung-min are all signed to CAA Base alongside Eze, but Palace will fight tooth and nail to retain his services for the upcoming campaign.
The Eagles have already lost the long-serving Wilfried Zaha on a free transfer to Galatasaray, while Chelsea and Manchester City are being tipped to battle for Michael Olise.
Palace have managed to replace Zaha with £26m signing Matheus Franca from Flamengo, but Hodgson has revealed that the 19-year-old Brazilian will miss the start of the season through injury.
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Retaining Eze's services this summer is therefore of paramount importance to Palace, although the Eagles may be pressured into a sale in 2024 if the attacker still refuses to extend his deal.
Spurs have already added to their playmaking ranks with the £40m capture of Maddison from Leicester City this summer, while also bringing Guglielmo Vicario, Alejo Veliz, Micky van de Ven and Manor Solomon to the club.
However, Lilywhites fans have since been rocked by the bombshell news that Bayern Munich have allegedly agreed a fee in excess of €100m (£86.3m) for star striker Harry Kane.
The England captain is yet to give the green light to a switch to the Allianz Arena, though, and he is even believed to be leaning towards staying in North London, having been impressed with Ange Postecoglou's start to life at the club.
Spurs kick off their Premier League campaign away to Brentford on August 13, by which point Kane will be expected to stay with the Lilywhites if his future is not resolved by then.
Ben Knapton
