Roy Hodgson has said that Crystal Palace are “very confident” Eberechi Eze will sign a new contract despite interest from Manchester City in the England midfielder. Eze, who joined from QPR in 2020, is understood to have opened talks in September about extending hisdeal, which expires in June 2025, after he was the subject of a deadline day inquiry from City. The 25-year-old is believed to be ready to commit to a new contract that would make him among the top earners at the club. There is a strong possibility any new deal could include a release clause, as is understood to be the case with Michael Olise, who agreed a new four-year contract in August after turning down Chelsea. Liverpool and Tottenham have also been linked with Eze in the past. The Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who made his first England appearance for more than two years in the friendly win over Australia, and the Ghana forward Jordan Ayew have signed contract extensions this week and Hodgson is hoping Eze will follow suit. “I believe the club are working very hard with Eberechi Eze,” Hodgson said. “They are very confident it won’t be too long before they can announce him as well. These matters are taken care of by [chairman] Steve Parish and [sporting director] Dougie Freedman, they keep me informed. But certainly, they are optimistic it won’t take too long to get Eze to commit his future as well.” Eze has not featured for Palace since injuring a hamstring in their victory over Manchester United at the start of October but is back in training along with Olise, who has yet to feature this season owing to injury. “They’re making good strides,” said Hodgson, who hopes both could be back to face Everton next weekend. The former England manager said he had apologised to the substitutes Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Naouirou Ahamada and Matheus França for stating that his team “became much weaker” when they came on against Tottenham last week in the 2-1 defeat. “It was wrong of me to do so in the disappointment of the game,” the 76-year-old said. “I was rather hoping at 2-0 down we could mount some sort of recovery. “Sometimes in the press conference directly after the game one is tempted to say things you certainly shouldn’t say and really I don’t mean. We have great faith in all of our young players. They’re making progress. It’s unfair to expect more of them as I’m suggesting I did expect. That’s very unfair of me. I’ve spoken to the three, explained that and apologised.”