Transfer latest: Palace and Ipswich vie for £20m Doak while Ferguson race heats up
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Crystal Palace and Ipswich are set to test Liverpool’s resolve to keep Ben Doak by making improved bids worth £20m for the Scotland forward. Both clubs had opening offers of £15m rejected last week, with Liverpool thought to be holding out for closer to £30m for the 19-year-old, who is on loan at Middlesbrough.
![[Evan Ferguson on the pitch]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2826c20d42f14290d210dadd9984b913ac339028/0_96_3060_1836/master/3060.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Palace want to bolster their attacking options having struggled for goals. They are expected to return with another offer in the coming days, with the sporting director, Dougie Freedman, having identified Doak as the primary target after watching him on several occasions in the Championship for Michael Carrick’s side. He has scored twice and provided six assists in 21 appearances there and made his Scotland debut in September after being named in Steve Clarke’s squad for Euro 2024 but having to withdraw injured.
Palace hope an improved offer may tempt Liverpool into selling a player they signed from Celtic in March 2022 after paying about £600,000 in compensation. Ipswich have also been heavily tracking Doak’s progress and are ready to rival Palace’s bid. Fulham and Brentford have also been linked with a move for Doak, the EFL’s young player of the month in November.
It is understood Palace have considered making an offer for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki, who is available for about £15m and is also wanted by Atalanta. But any hopes of bringing Wilfried Zaha back to Selhurst Park on loan have been scuppered by Fifa regulations that stipulate players are only eligible to play official matches for two clubs in the same season. The Ivory Coast forward – who attended Palace’s game against Arsenal last month – was a substitute in Galatasaray’s 5-0 Turkish Super Cup defeat to Besiktas in August before joining Lyon on loan, where he has made only one league start.
