- Rowen Fernandez writes for us
Contrary to reports, Gould has not yet left the country and is with the club in their pre-season training. According to SuperSport United chief operations officer Jose Ferreira, Gould will only leave next week.
“Let me clarify something – Morgan is contracted to Supersport United and there has not been anything concrete about the reported move to Crystal Palace,” said Ferreira. “The only thing that has come forth is an invitation for trials and he is only leaving next week. We have made it clear to Morgan that should any concrete interest come forth from a European club, we will not stand in his way.”
It appears that interest from Palace could turn into something solid as their long term target Anthony Gardner is holding out for more money elsewhere and Adam Barrett will move to Bournemouth this week. This has left Paddy McCarthy as the only central defender on the Palace books.
Freedman is desperate to land an experienced centre-half in the next few weeks. Enquiries have been made to Leeds about the availability of Australian Patrick Kisnorbo, but it is now Gould who is top of the Eagles list of targets.
Freedman first noticed the 28-year-old's qualities when running the rule over his Bafana Bafana team-mate Kagisho Dikgacoi.
According to reports from London, a price was put to Palace by Gould's current employers SuperSport United but the Eagles refused to pay the full amount until they have had a closer look at the player.
The idea is for Gould to link up with Freedman's squad during their training camp in Exeter next week. "We do want to get him over here to have a proper look at him but it hasn't been rubber-stamped yet," Freedman said .
"I saw quite a bit of him when I was weighing up the move for KG and he looks as though he could be what we are looking for.
"He's an experienced international centre-half and he could be the answer. But we would have to take him on trial before we committed to anything and, as I say, it hasn't been 100 per cent confirmed that he's coming yet."
Freedman admits it has been a frustrating time in the transfer market so far this summer, with Glenn Murray and Dikgacoi the only two confirmed additions to his squad. But he remains confident that come the season opener at Peterborough next month he will have a far stronger team assembled.
"We are looking around and working very hard to bring bodies in," he said. "We know we need more cover at centre-back and we need a striker as well. With what's happened at this club over the past two years it has been hard to attract players here and convince them we're now going in the right direction."
One player who spurned Palace's advances this week was Rob Earnshaw, with the Wales forward opting for a return home to Cardiff City.
"We wanted him but it is very difficult for us to compete with the money some of these clubs are prepared to throw at players," said Freedman. "There are still plenty of other targets out there and I'm still sure that we'll be able to get some more over the line in the coming days and weeks."
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