Sport

Crystal Palace poised to sign New Zealand forward Indiah-Paige Riley

06:15 am on 1 August 2024

Photo: Getty Images/ Catherine Ivill

Crystal Palace are poised to sign the New Zealand forward Indiah-Paige Riley as they accelerate efforts to strengthen their squad after promotion to the Women's Super League.

A fee has been agreed with PSV Eindhoven and the 22‑year‑old has agreed personal terms with Palace, who have not made a signing since they won the Championship to secure a place in the top division for the first time.

The Auckland-born Riley has played every minute of New Zealand's Olympic campaign in France, impressing as one of the Football Ferns' standout players in their defeats by Canada and Colombia.

New Zealand face France in their final Group A fixture this morning (NZT).

Riley began her career with Brisbane Roar before a spell with the Danish club Fortuna Hjørring and a return to Brisbane. She has played for PSV since last summer and scored seven league goals there.

She helped PSV to finish third in the Eredivisie, scoring 0.51 goals for every 90 minutes that she was on the pitch.

Riley was a key summer target for Laura Kaminski's Palace, who are expected to make further signings. They begin their WSL campaign at Tottenham on the weekend of 21-22 September, before hosting Chelsea the following Friday.