Announcement from Crystal Palace suggests Everton could now beat them to £10m target

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It has been a whirlwind of a day for one of Everton’s Premier League rivals.

Over at Crystal Palace – who sit one point and one place behind Everton – it has now been revealed that Oliver Glasner is departing at the end of the season, while their captain Marc Guehi is about to join Manchester City for £20m.

Before those two developments occurred, however, another announcement came from Crystal Palace revealing that Danny Imray had been recalled from his loan spell at Blackpool.

That will mean very little to Everton fans on the face of it – but it may well suggest the south Londoners are now giving The Friedkin Group a free run at signing Zakaria El Ouahdi from Genk.

Everton receive potential boost in race to sign Zakaria El Ouahdi as Crystal Palace look within

Glasner needed a new option at right-back after Daniel Munoz damaged his knee, as the 34-year-old Nathaniel Clyne struggled to deputise competently at his age.

Africa Foot claimed that Crystal Palace were in talks to sign El Ouahdi from Genk, but face strong competition from Everton, who are also in advanced discussions to land the Morocco international.

However, the decision to suddenly recall Imray, a right-back, from Blackpool suggests Crystal Palace now plan to give one of their own a chance to deputise for Munoz rather than turn to the transfer market.

Finances may also come into the situation, with Crystal Palace bidding £17m to sign a new striker in Angers No.11 Sidiki Cherif.

Africa Foot said Genk want £10m for El Ouahdi – who is open to moving to England – so it is possible that the Eagles are now putting that cash towards a deal for Cherif instead after calling Imray back, offering a potential boost to Everton.

Crystal Palace misery offers Everton hope of European football

As aforesaid, the south Londoners are just a point behind Everton in the Premier League table, with both probably feeling they can qualify for Europe.

Brentford currently sit fifth, but are just four points ahead of the Toffees, for example.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	ArsenalArsenal	21	15	4	2	40	14	26	49
2	Manchester CityManchester City	21	13	4	4	45	19	26	43
3	Aston VillaAston Villa	21	13	4	4	33	24	9	43
4	LiverpoolLiverpool	21	10	5	6	32	28	4	35
5	BrentfordBrentford	21	10	3	8	35	28	7	33
6	NewcastleNewcastle	21	9	5	7	32	27	5	32
7	Manchester UnitedManchester United	21	8	8	5	36	32	4	32
8	ChelseaChelsea	21	8	7	6	34	24	10	31
9	FulhamFulham	21	9	4	8	30	30	0	31
10	SunderlandSunderland	21	7	9	5	21	22	-1	30
11	BrightonBrighton	21	7	8	6	31	28	3	29
12	EvertonEverton	21	8	5	8	23	25	-2	29
13	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	21	7	7	7	22	23	-1	28
14	TottenhamTottenham	21	7	6	8	30	27	3	27
15	BournemouthBournemouth	21	6	8	7	34	40	-6	26
16	LeedsLeeds	21	5	7	9	29	37	-8	22
17	Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest	21	6	3	12	21	34	-13	21
18	West HamWest Ham	21	3	5	13	22	43	-21	14
19	BurnleyBurnley	21	3	4	14	22	41	-19	13
20	WolvesWolves	21	1	4	16	15	41	-26	7

The division is tight – just nine points separate Bournemouth in 15th place and Liverpool in fifth place – so Everton have plenty of sides to fend off in the fight for Europe.

However, the Toffees can selfishly take some confidence from the news involving Guehi at Crystal Palace.

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Losing the club captain, and a seasoned England international to boot, will surely do them no favours in the second half of the season, so Everton may well have one less rival to worry about in the battle for European qualification.