Jaydee Canvot is expected to start for Crystal Palace against Rayo Vallecano in tonight’s UEFA Conference League final at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, a major night for the 19-year-old defender who joined from Toulouse only last summer. It will be his 38th appearance of the season.
Canvot earned his place in Oliver Glasner’s team after Marc Guehi moved to Manchester City in January, and Palace have since leaned on the France U21 international more and more. The club paid around £23m to bring him in from Toulouse, and the early return has been enough to make him one of the defining figures of the campaign.
That is why the latest interest is landing now. L’Equipe reported that Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are watching Canvot, describing him as “attracting interest from the two European giants”. The report said PSG have been tracking him since he arrived in South London, but it also made clear the interest is not yet concrete.
For Palace, the timing matters because the story comes at the sharp edge of a final and against the backdrop of another developing transfer picture. Other reports over the weekend suggested Maxence Lacroix’s future lies away from Selhurst Park, leaving Palace with familiar questions about how long they can keep a back line together as it is starting to mature.
Even so, the club’s position on Canvot appears settled for now. He is under contract until 2029, and the view around him is that Palace cannot consider selling this summer. That is the logic of a player signed young, trusted quickly and now treated as the future of the side. Tonight in Leipzig, the future is likely to begin in the starting XI.
