Blackpool FC, Steve Bruce plotting second Crystal Palace transfer raid | OneFootball

League One side Blackpool are eyeing a second loan signing from Crystal Palace as they pursue a deal for gifted winger Malcolm Ebiowei

Blackpool are eyeing up another loan agreement with Premier League side and reigning FA Cup winners Crystal Palace as they bid to acquire the services of Malcolm Ebiowei ahead of the 2025/26 League One campaign.

As reported by The Sun's Alan Nixon on Saturday afternoon via his exclusive Patreon service, Blackpool boss Steve Bruce is looking to sign the talented winger on a season-long loan.

The Tangerines have made a host of additions to the squad that finished the previous League One season in ninth position, eleven points shy of sixth-placed Leyton Orient. In deals first revealed exclusively by Football League World, Blackpool have signed Niall Ennis from Stoke City, experienced midfielder George Honeyman from Millwall and Birmingham City shot-stopper Bailey Peacock-Farrell on loan.

They have also acquired Jordan Brown, Fraser Horsfall, Michael Ihiekwe and Franco Ravizzoli as well as Danny Imray on loan from Palace for the season - and Bruce's side are now intent on adding another young Eagles wide-man.

Blackpool will commence the upcoming 2025/26 third-tier season at home to Stevenage next Saturday.

Blackpool FC, Steve Bruce plotting second Crystal Palace transfer with Malcolm Ebiowei pursuit

According to Nixon's aforementioned report, Bruce is "asking" for Ebiowei on loan for the season after landing a deal for Imray, who had spent the previous campaign on loan with League Two side Bromley and will now be looking to make the step up to League One level.

21-year-old Ebiowei joined Crystal Palace from Derby County in the summer of 2022, having emerged as a rising star during a brief yet exhilarating stay under Wayne Rooney in the East Midlands.

However, his move to Selhurst Park has not worked out amid myriad unsuccessful loan stints, two of which have taken place in the Championship with Hull City and Oxford United, along with a short stay at then-Belgian top-flight outfit RWD Molenbeek in the second-half of the 2023/24 season.

Ebiowei's most recent loan move took him to Oxford last season, although he managed just six goalless appearances and a mere 64 minutes of Championship action across four outings before seeing the agreement cut short back in January.

The former Arsenal and Rangers academy star still has two years to run on the five-year deal he penned to join Palace from the Rams, but is some way down Oliver Glasner's pecking order and has not made an appearance for the Eagles since December 2022.

He has only ever featured in Palace colours on five occasions at first-team level, and appears poised to seal yet another exit from the club either on a temporary or permanent basis.

Crystal Palace's Malcolm Ebiowei could be a huge League One hit amid Blackpool FC interest

The last few years have unfolded akin to something of a footballing nightmare for Ebiowei, who was widely tipped to transition into a real star at Palace - a club with an esteemed reputation for nurturing fine EFL-produced talent such as Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, of course.

Ebiowei, though, has not followed suit and instead finds himself at a career crossroads, already years after showing the best form of his career as an 18-year-old for Derby as they suffered relegation from the Championship. Pacey and direct with an abundance of skill, trickery and unpredictability, the gifted winger was mesmeric for the Rams but has not displayed those performance levels since.

His loan moves away from Palace were supposed to progress his career, but instead, it feels as though each has been worse than the one before it.

However, Ebiowei's talent remains intact. He's a superbly gifted technician with X-Factor ability, the sort of quality which can light up the Championship - let alone League One - and Blackpool could do much worse than taking a punt on Ebiowei, considering the potential upside, even if any such signing would carry an obvious risk element owing to recent history.