Date: 12th June 2017 at 6:12pm
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Crystal Palace, Everton and West Ham are set to battle it out in pursuit of Manchester United defender Chris Smalling, according to The Daily Star.

The 27-year-old moved to Old Trafford back in 2010 after impressing at London outfit Fulham, and has since then gone on to play 243 times for the Red Devils, helping them to two Premier League titles and an FA Cup success in 2016.

The England star managed 36 appearances last term under Jose Mourinho to help the side win the League Cup and Europa League, but with just 13 starts in the Premier League, it seems clear that he isn’t first choice at Old Trafford.

And the imminent arrival of Benfica centre-back Victor Lindelof will likely push Smalling further down the pecking order at United, and with reports suggesting that Mourinho is looking to sell the defender, Everton, West Ham, and managerless Crystal Palace are reported to be interested in the 27-year-old.

Ronald Koeman’s Toffees will be looking at how they can bridge the gap to the top six next season, and clearly feel that their backline, which shipped 44 goals last term, needs strengthening to do that, while Slaven Bilic’s Hammers conceded 64 times in the Premier League last term to underline what area they need to reinforce this summer.

While Palace, still without a manager following the resignation of Sam Allardyce last month, will not want to be embroiled in another relegation scrap next season, and with 63 goals going in the back of their net last term, that’s clearly an area which needs bolstering.

Ultimately, it doesn’t appear that Smalling has a future at Old Trafford, but whether any of the aforementioned trio can get a deal done for the 27-year-old ace remains to be seen.

 
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