Crystal Palace Close In on Anan Khalaili as Summer Rebuild Takes Shape
Crystal Palace are closing in on the signing of Anan Khalaili from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, with a fee reported to be around £21m (BBC Sport).
The 21-year-old right-sided midfielder is expected to complete the move in the coming week. Khalaili made 52 appearances in all competitions for Union SG last season, scoring six goals and registering six assists. He is an Israeli international with 16 caps who also featured for his club in the Champions League, Europe's top club competition (Times of Israel).
Khalaili's path to south London has been anything but straightforward. He grew up in Haifa after his family moved from the Arab village of Sakhnin in northern Israel, and he followed his father Majdi into the game. He signed for Union Saint-Gilloise from Maccabi Haifa in June 2024 on a four-year contract and quickly became a regular in a side that competes at the top of Belgian football.
Union SG had no shortage of interest in their young midfielder. Inter Milan were previously reported to be pursuing a deal worth around €32m (Yahoo Sports, July 10), while Nottingham Forest had a €20m offer rejected by the Belgian club in late July (The Athletic). Palace have now moved to the front of the queue.
Khalaili is not the only incoming at Selhurst Park. BBC Sport reports that Palace are also set to sign 19-year-old Real Salt Lake winger Zavier Gozo, adding youthful attacking depth to the squad. The club have already completed free-transfer deals for defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oscar Mingueza this summer, while talks with Augsburg for central defender Chrislain Matsima have ended (Sky Sports).
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Brennan Johnson is set to complete a move to Everton as part of a swap deal involving Dwight McNeil moving in the opposite direction — a piece of business that will reshape both clubs' wide options.
For Palace fans, the Khalaili deal signals clear intent. A fee north of £20m for a 21-year-old with Champions League experience and a full international pedigree is a statement of ambition, not a squad-filler. The window does not close for some weeks yet, but the spine of Palace's summer rebuild is already visible.
