Brighton and Crystal Palace want to sign Eddie Nketiah this month, with Palace reportedly terminating Jean-Philippe Mateta’s loan spell.

The S*n report that Brighton and Crystal Palace both remain keen on Eddie Nketiah, and they’d like to sign him in the current transfer window if possible. They face competition from Bayer Leverkusen, who are free to talk to Nketiah due to his expiring deal.

Palace may have extra motivation to sign Nketiah this month, as Le Progres report that they’ve come to an agreement with Saint-Etienne to terminate the loan of Jean-Philippe Mateta.

That opens up a spot for Nketiah to fill, allowing him to remain in London and in the Premier League if he wanted to.

Similarly, Brighton have just loaned Aaron Connolly out to Middlesbrough, so they could also use another striker for the next few months.

Both Palace and Brighton would still be in for Nketiah this summer if they can’t get a deal done now. But they’d be taking the risk that a club like Bayer Leverkusen tie him down to a pre-contract agreement.

From an Arsenal point of view, it would arguably be better to sell the striker to another Premier League side.

Although there’s obviously more risk that he comes back to haunt Arsenal in his future games against the Gunners, it would also mean a lot more money in the bank.

Even if Nketiah joins Brighton or Palace at the end of his contract this summer, they’d still owe a potentially significant compensation fee to Arsenal. If he went abroad, it’s a different story.