Crystal Palace turn to Middlesbrough for potential Dougie Freedman replacement | OneFootball

The Eagles have turned their attention to Boro's head of football.

Crystal Palace have reportedly set their sights on Middlesbrough's head of football Kieran Scott as a possible replacement for their newly vacant sporting director role left by Dougie Freedman.

That's according to Sky Sports News on Wednesday, as the Eagles look to move quickly to find Freedman's successor.

The 50-year-old is understood to be joining Saudi Arabian second division side Al-Diriyah, having performed his sporting director role at Selhurst Park since 2017.

Crystal Palace eyeing up potential swoop for Middlesbrough's Kieran Scott as Freedman replacement

As revealed by Sky Sports News, Palace have earmarked Middlesbrough's head of football, Scott, as a possible candidate to replace Freedman as the club's sporting director.

The report also names the club's former sporting director for 11 months between 2013-2014, Iain Moody, as a possible candidate.

Moody left Selhurst Park amid the Malky Mackay texting scandal, but has remained working closely with Crystal Palace's recruitment network on a consultancy basis.

He is understood to be taking up a larger role at the club, but BBC Sport have previously reported that he's not set to directly replace Freedman.

Also named by Sky Sports as a potential Freedman successor is Brentford's technical director, Lee Dykes, which is a role he's been performing for the Bees since June 2022.

Dykes has been heading up the club's impressive recruitment for a number of years, and was previously understood to have been in talks over becoming Leeds United's sporting director in the summer of 2023.

Losing Kieran Scott would be a huge blow for Middlesbrough

Ever since Scott arrived at Middlesbrough from Norwich City in September 2021, Boro's recruitment has been largely excellent.

Gone are the days of scattergun transfer windows and overspending; the Teessiders have become highly shrewd operators in the market in recent years, molded around a philosophy of identifying young, promising talent, nurturing them into the starting XI, before selling them on for major profit in the future.

Morgan Rogers and Emmanuel Latte Lath have both raked in a combined profit of over £33m, whilst Michael Carrick's squad has also been flooded with highly talented players such as Finn Azaz, Rav van den Berg, Tommy Conway and Ben Doak respectively.

Therefore, Scott has played an essential role in Boro's progression in regard to how they operate from a recruitment standpoint, and has helped massively in setting the club up for more big paydays in the future.

As such, losing him would undoubtedly be a huge blow to the infrastructure of the club, and it would mean Middlesbrough would have a major task on their hands to find his replacement.