The Crystal Palace fans sure are an excited bunch in the Transfer Tavern at present following the news they have just received about their new manager.

Dutchman, Frank de Boer was handed the Palace reigns on Monday and with the promise of attractive football on the horizon – the Palace fans in the Tavern are looking forward to seeing the type of football that their side will produce during the 2017/18 season.

One player that our landlord knows de Boer would have liked to have at his disposal is Mamadou Sakho, who was on loan at the Eagles last season. However, the fee placed on Sakho’s head by his club side, Liverpool, has really put a spanner in the works and it is yet to be seen whether or not the Palace hierarchy will want to spend that much money on the Frenchman which has led to them looking at alternative options in the centre of defence.

Though the Eagles in the Tavern are disappointed that they may not sign Sakho permanently, this has not stopped the debate starting over which centre backs De Boer should be looking at and there has been some interesting names thrown into the mix.

So with that said, let’s take a look at the two options that Frank de Boer has to sign if he cannot sign Mamadou Sakho…

Joel Veltman

The Ajax centre back has been described as an ‘interesting option’ by Frank de Boer and our landlord would not be surprised to see the Dutchman join Palace in this window.

Veltman brings with him European experience as he was part of the Ajax team that reached the Europa League final last season and the thought of Veltman in their back four certainly has eased the Eagles fans’ worries over whether or not they sign Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool.

Kurt Zouma

Although Chelsea have just sold Nathan Ake to Bournemouth in a £20million deal as well as releasing club captain, John Terry – our landlord believes Kurt Zouma may well be available as Antonio Conte looks to rejuvenate the Champions for next season.

With all this in mind, Zouma may well be the perfect replacement for Sakho in the Palace defence with the young Frenchman deploying a similar physical presence to the Liverpool man. One thing is for sure, the lure of first team football will turn the head of Zouma and the thought in the Tavern is that a move should definitely be made for the Chelsea man.