Crystal Palace close to £120,000-a-week Ismaila Sarr contract agreement

Crystal Palace are reportedly close to agreeing a new long-term contract with Ismaila Sarr after keeping the forward away from Liverpool during the summer transfer window.

Sarr attracted significant interest before the deadline, with Liverpool making a formal bid for the Senegal international.

The proposed move ultimately failed to materialise and Palace have now made securing Sarr’s future at Selhurst Park a priority.

According to journalist Alan Nixon, Sarr is close to reaching an agreement over a new contract worth around £120,000 per week.

The deal is expected to run for either three or four years and would move the 28-year-old alongside Palace’s highest earners.

Palace reportedly recognise that Sarr had fallen behind several recent arrivals in the club’s wage structure despite becoming one of their most important attacking players.

His performances last season certainly strengthened his negotiating position.

Sarr scored 21 goals across all competitions as Palace won the Conference League and Community Shield.

Sarr’s start to the new campaign has been disrupted by injury, restricting him to only eight minutes of Premier League football so far.

His situation was further complicated during the summer when he attempted to secure a move to Liverpool, including choosing not to feature against Everton while the potential transfer was being discussed.

With that move now off the table, Palace appear determined to reintegrate Sarr and secure his peak years.

That could be particularly important for new manager Pierre Sage following a difficult opening to the Premier League season.

Palace were busy during the summer, adding ten new players including Zavier Gozo, Dwight McNeil and Dario Osorio.

However, keeping established stars was equally important.

After resisting interest in both Sarr and Adam Wharton, chairman Steve Parish is now moving to protect the club’s position by handing Sarr a lucrative new agreement.

Even if transfer interest returns in the future, a longer contract would put Palace in a much stronger negotiating position.

For now, the priority is getting Sarr fully fit and back to the level which made him such an important player last season.

Finalising Sarr’s contract would remove a significant question surrounding his future after a turbulent summer.

The next challenge will be getting him back into Pierre Sage’s starting XI following his injury-hit opening to the season.

If Sarr can rediscover last season’s goalscoring form, securing him on a long-term contract could prove to be one of Palace’s most important pieces of business outside the transfer window.