Morocco defender Chadi Riad has completed a medical ahead of his proposed move to Crystal Palace.
Riad is expected to sign a five-year contract with the Premier League club after Palace agreed a fee in the region of £15million ($19.1m).
The Athletic reported a deal was close last week and it is expected to be finalised following Morocco’s World Cup qualifiers against Zambia on June 7 and Congo four days later.
Riad spent last season on loan from Barcelona at Real Betis, where he made 30 appearances in all competitions.
The 20-year-old left-sided centre-back helped Betis finish seventh in La Liga and secure Conference League qualification for the 2024-25 campaign.
Betis did have a purchase option in their loan deal but Riad is instead set to join Palace, who negotiated with both Spanish teams.
He was a regular for Barcelona Athletic — the club’s reserve side — in 2022-23, leading to a call-up to the first team and debut against Osasuna in November 2022.
Riad was a member of Walid Regragui’s Morocco squad for the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year and made his senior bow in a pre-tournament friendly against Sierra Leone. He won a second cap during the goalless draw with Mauritania in March.
Riad’s arrival at Palace would strengthen their defensive options, especially as new manager Oliver Glasner favours a system that tends to use three centre-backs.
Marc Guehi missed 12 games in the second half of last season because of a knee injury but was fit enough to start the final two games and has been included in England’s preliminary squad for Euro 2024.
Palace, though, are conscious that they could lose Guehi this summer — the 23-year-old has long-standing interest from elsewhere and his contract expires in 2026.
(Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
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