Crystal Palace Step Up Matsima Pursuit
Crystal Palace is stepping up negotiations to sign central defender Chrislain Matsima from Augsburg as the South London club is anticipating the departure of Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea, according to Santi Aouna of Foot Mercato.
Personal Terms Already Agreed
The 24-year-old French player is open for the move and has already agreed to personal terms with Crystal Palace as the deal is progressing rapidly as a priority signing for French manager Pierre Sage.
Chrislain Matsima is a right-footed center back who can play in both the left and right halves of defense as a physically and aerially dominant defender with a height of 1.93 meters. He also possesses excellent recovery pace and ability on the ball.
Chelsea and Palace Working on Separate Deals
Meanwhile, Chelsea are in talks with Palace to sign Lacroix, while Palace has inquired about the possibility of bringing Chelsea defender Axel Disasi to the club. According to our sources, both deals are not correlated and handled separately by the management of Eagles.
Monaco Still Hold Sell-On Clause
The player is a product of Monaco's youth academy, and the club still has a 15% sell-on clause in the contract that they added while transferring him to Augsburg last summer after a season-long loan in the 2024-25 season.
Injury Halted Promising Season
Matsima had a strong start to the season, but after suffering a serious tendon injury last January, he was forced to be sidelined for the majority of the matches in second half of the season. The player featured in several youth categories of the French national team and has yet to make his debut for the senior national team.