Alan Pardew says his dealings in the transfer market are being hindered by unscrupulous agents.
The Crystal Palace boss wants to recruit at least two more new names to the Selhurst Park squad, but is being frustrated by ever-changing price tags set by agents.
So far, Palace’s sole dip into the market was the loan move for Yaya Sanogo, and the French U21 international made his debut in the weekend win at Burnley.
Pardew missed out on signing Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe, but is in line to sign Blackburn Rovers striker Rudy Gestede for around £5m, while any move for Swansea City defender Neil Taylor would require a £4m outlay.
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Pardew said: “We have a will to be busy in the transfer window.
“But agents change their mind, suddenly the price is one figure and you meet that figure, and then it is something else.
“It’s Euros, it’s pounds, it’s US dollars, it just keeps going up. But we’ll get a sense of the market at some stage and hopefully bring in one or two players.”
He added: “I think I speak for every Premier League manager when I say that some of the figures agents put about are ridiculous.”
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