News of Nottingham Forest‘s bid for Daniel Munoz is unlikely to be welcome for Crystal Palace.
Admittedly, Munoz did not hit the same heights last season when he returned from a nasty knee injury, and at 30 years old may not have too many years left at that elite standard.
That will have been part of Palace’s thinking in recruiting two right-sided wing-backs this summer, Oscar Mingueza on a free and Anan Khalaili from Union Saint-Gilloise for a fee in the region of £21million.
Palace beat Forest to the signing of Khalaili and ironically that has indirectly led to the East Midlands side making an approach for Munoz as they look to strengthen there and provide competition for Ola Aina.
Another complicating factor in a potential deal is the rivalry between the sides, which has amped up in recent seasons; Forest took Palace’s Europa League spot after the latter had won the FA Cup.
Palace were demoted to the Conference League but won it in Leipzig to qualify for this year’s Europa League, while Forest were knocked out of the Europa League and finished 16th in the Premier League, only five points clear of relegation, and consequently some Palace fans consider themselves to have got the last laugh.
Manager Oliver Glasner left this summer at the end of his contract and joined Forest so knows and admires the Colombian international, who shone at the World Cup.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is also suing Palace for defamation, extending the mood of tension between the two clubs.
There is a figure at which Palace would reluctantly move Munoz on and look to the future — but the seemingly opening and exploratory bid of around £22m is highly unlikely to meet that bar.
