Belgian side Gent are pushing to make Crystal Palace striker Alexander Sørloth's move across the English Channel permanent.
De Buffalo finished fifth in the regular season of the Belgian First Division A, with the Norwegian arriving on loan in January to bolster their forward options. He has since made a sizeable impact at the club, notching four goals and a couple of assists in his 11 appearances to date.
That is a significant improvement on his record for the Eagles, having netted just once for them, that score coming in a League Cup victory at Swansea City.
After failing to impress at Selhurst Park, the 23-year-old was sent to Belgium to aid his development. Though the move was initially made on a temporary basis, Gent are now hopeful of securing Sørloth's services for the foreseeable future.
Speaking to RTBF, their technical director Michel Louwagie stated: "Sørloth should, in principle, leave us, but in football, things change everyday. Today, he isn’t staying, but maybe tomorrow he will be. We still have to talk about it."
Despite Sørloth struggling to adjust to Premier League life, Palace would be keen to recoup most of the £8.1m they spent to bring the forward in from FC Midtjylland in January 2018, potentially pricing Gent out of a deal.
There is no option to buy at the end of the current deal, making matters slightly more difficult for the Belgian outfit in that negotiations over a transfer would have to begin from scratch.
They are set to begin their Championship Playoffs campaign after the international break, with Sørloth likely to play a prominent role as they look to win just their second ever top division title.
Source :
90min
