Erling Haaland lauds Crystal Palace forward as Manchester City prepare formal bid | OneFootball

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has lauded Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze and send a stark warning to his teammates about the threat posed by Oliver Glasner’s side ahead of the FA Cup final.

City have a chance to bring home an eighth FA Cup title in the club’s history when they face off against Eagles – whom they came from behind to beat 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium in April – at Wembley on Saturday evening.

Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol were on the scoresheet for Pep Guardiola’s men as the Blues secured a hard-fought 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final – a hallmark of the squad’s collective resurgence in the season run-in after a difficult first six months of the campaign.

A rich vein of form in recent months has put Manchester City in pole position to secure a top-five Premier League finish to go on and secure a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League, with the Blues seeking wins in their final two league outings against Bournemouth and Fulham.

However, first things first and Guardiola would know the measure of boost title triumph on Saturday can give his side heading into their last few Premier League games. Speaking ahead of a trip to London on Saturday, Erling Haaland has warned his teammates about the threat posted by Crystal Palace.

“I think they (Crystal Palace) are really good. When you are in the FA Cup Final, you are doing something right and winning games in a row which isn’t easy,” Haaland said in an interview with the club’s official website.

“They (Crystal Palace) are a solid team and a difficult one to play against with good individual quality. They have lots of good players so it’s going to be a difficult game. (Eberechi) Eze is an amazing player and I really like him.

“I like the centre-backs as well, their defence is really good. They (Crystal Palace) have lots of different special and to get to the FA Cup Final, you have to have something special, and they have that. We have to play at our best to be able to hopefully win it.”

Manchester City have recently been linked with a summer swoop for Eze, who has established himself as one of England’s finest attacking midfielders after another impressive campaign in south London that saw him earn a first call to the England National Team.

City are understood to be eyeing the FA Cup final as an audition for the 26-year-old – who has scored 12 times and provided 11 assists in 40 appearances in all competitions for the Eagles this season – and opened the scoring in Palace’s 5-2 loss at the Etihad Stadium in April and nearly made it 3-0 to the visitors before he was adjudged offside in the buildup.