Crystal Palace are edging close to a permanent move for Ghanian striker Jordan Ayew, according to reports.
According to ‘checks’ by Footballghana.com, the Swansea City player could return to South London once the two clubs agree on a transfer fee.
The forward spent last season on loan at Selhurst Park, but failed to claim a first-team place and scored just one goal in 20 league appearances.
Jordan Ayew has been at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament with his native country before they bowed out in the last 16 on penalties to Tunisia. While Ghana didn’t succeed, the tournament wasn’t a bad one for the attacker, chipping in with two goals throughout the tournament as he led the attacking line for the Black Stars.
With Crystal Palace reportedly keeping an eye on the forward during the tournament, they will now go after the player to add strength in depth to their squad.
The 27-year-old’s contract is coming to an end next summer, so he is available for a slender £2.5million, according to the Sky Sports.
It hasn’t been the best of seasons for Jordan Ayew, as his one goal and two assists from 20 league appearances suggests. Keeping in mind the forward has only started 14 games in the league, then it surely has to be assumed that he is coming in to be a fringe player.
Stats from WhoScored claim that the forward only played at centre-forward for the Eagles, but that doesn’t reflect the versatility of the player. According to information collated by Transfermarkt, he’s also made over 40 career appearances on either wing.
Despite Ayew’s poor goal return, his all-round stats reflect well on the attacker, so people should not be too quick to jump the gun on him just because his finishing and shooting stats are not fantastic.
Defensively, Ayew is a very hard worker, as suggested by his average of 1.9 tackles per game – Crystal Palace’s joint fourth highest in the squad. Judging from that stat, he often breaks up play in the opposition’s midfield and can be a general nuisance.
He also averages 0.8 key passes per game – the joint fifth highest in the squad, matching midfielders James McArthur and Max Meyer. Considering that he will often find himself out on the flank and will have to make passes either beyond him on the overlap or underlap or inside to central midfield or the other attacker in the 4-4-2, it is a really important statistic.
Finally, Ayew comes third for Palace in terms of average times fouled per match with 1.3, only bettered by Wilfried Zaha and Townsend.
Jordan Ayew is not the solution for Crystal Palace when it comes to attackers scoring goals, though he is a solution to the lack of depth their forward line holds.
The breakdown of stats suggest that Palace have a very capable, all-round attacker who can be very useful when trying to hold out a game. His height stops him being a target man player, but he can provide pressure on defences and crucially be a back-up player that Palace know they can rely on.
The versatility he adds means that Palace have another option on the wings if injuries were to arise, and he also allows for a change of system if Palace don’t want to play with Benteke.
While he is not setting the world alight, he has now picked up 100 Premier League appearances and is approaching his prime age, so Palace would be naive to miss out on adding him to their squad.
Palace fans, are you happy with Ayew? Join the discussion by commenting below…
