'Big blow': Crystal Palace set to miss out on midfielder compared to N'Golo Kante as French giants close in

Olympique Lyonnais have jumped ahead of Crystal Palace in the race to sign Wilfred Ndidi who has been offered to them this summer, LondonWorld has been told.

The Leicester midfielder will leave the King Power after helping the Foxes return to the Premier League following relegation the season before.

Lyon produced one of the best second-half-of-the-season performances to qualify for the Europa League and will need to add experience to their squad after a truly terrible first half of the season.

Ndidi was offered to Dougie Freedman who was excited and pitched the idea to manager Oliver Glasner. Ndidi was once described by Adrian Clarke as the next N’Golo Kante and given he’s a free agent he would have come to south London for nothing.

Strong end and fresh blood

The strong end to the season has lifted moods at Selhurst and they are on the verge of completing their first summer deals with Chadi Riad arriving in south London for his medical this week.

His signing will signal the intentions of the manager and the backing from the board as they look to start next season as they finished this one, winning all their games and finishing in the top half of the league table.

Another side of the transfer market will be how they hold on to their prized assets with interest in Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi.

Guehi has interest from clubs higher up the table including London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal, while Manchester United have not hidden their interest in the majestic Olise who ended the season flying with six goals.