Crystal Palace have opened talks with Dwight Gayle over extending the striker’s contract as they continue to protect their squad’s assets by securing key players to long-term deals at Selhurst Park.
Gayle joined Palace from Peterborough in the summer of 2013 for an initial fee in the region of £3.5m, then a club record, and has enjoyed bursts of form in the first team in the period since. Yet the 24-year-old, while acknowledged as the best finisher at the club, has started only 20 Premier League games and came close to leaving in the summer when Bristol City, newly promoted to the Championship, had a bid worth up to £9m accepted.
The forward opted against pursuing that move, preferring instead to remain in the top flight, and Norwich City submitted a similar bid with around two hours of the transfer window remaining on deadline day. Yet the timing of that offer gave Palace, who had earlier sold Glenn Murray to Bournemouth for an initial £4m, little opportunity to secure a replacement before the cut-off and the bid was rejected.
Gayle has since scored a hat-trick in the Capital One Cup derby win over Charlton Athletic and started Sunday’s win at Watford, with Alan Pardew hoping the player’s form now merits an extended run in the side. The striker’s deal expires in 2017 but Palace are seeking to secure him on new terms through to 2019. It remains to be seen whether any new deal would include a buyout clause should Gayle find his opportunities still limited.
Palace secured the centre-half Scott Dann and Scotland’s James McArthur to new contracts over the summer, following on from Jason Puncheon back in May, and announced that their DR Congo winger Yannick Bolasie had signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal worth around £40,000 a week over the weekend.
