Crystal Palace’s struggle for attacking inspiration, particularly at centre-forward, has been one of the defining features of their time under Roy Hodgson, but that could become a theme of the past if the club move to sign Michy Batshuayi this month.
The Eagles’ over-reliance on Wilfried Zaha has rather defined Palace as an attacking entity in the past eighteen months.
Christian Benteke’s toothless form and a general lack of alternatives to the Belgium international have forced Andros Townsend to accept the creative and goal-scoring responsibility, and he has been impressive in recent weeks.
But Hodgson cannot continue to rely on an unorthodox forward to spearhead the attack alongside another player in Jordan Ayew who tends to oscillate in the final-third.
With that in mind, Palace should be keeping tabs on Michy Batshuayi’s future at after Valencia manager Marcelino strongly suggested that he will look to replace the Chelsea loanee this month (via Goal).
“We need signings up front. In some cases our patience has run out.”
Batshuayi is a peculiar talent who cannot seem to find his feet anywhere despite his obvious talent: he was consistently ignored by Antonio Conte at Chelsea, a successful loan spell with Dortmund failed to translate into a permanent deal and now he’s taken a step back once again at Valencia.
But, despite his struggle to settle down, there is no question that Palace would strike gold by bringing him to Selhurst Park. A return of 12 goals from 23 international appearances and his strike rate of seven goals in ten Bundesliga appearances last season provide tangible evidence to suggest that, within the right environment, he can prove devastatingly prolific.
The hype which would surround his arrival at Palace would instantly give him the confidence to succeed and prove his doubters wrong, and with the club desperately in need of a new centre-forward it would be foolish not to consider bringing him to south London in the likely event that his loan spell with Valencia is cut short.
Crystal Palace fans – thoughts? Let us know below!
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