Having worked with Antonio Conte at Juventus, it seemed like Fernando Llorente was destined to reunite with his former manager at Chelsea with the Italian in pursuit of a target man both last season and the one before that.
Llorente, however, would go on to join Chelsea’s fierce London rivals Tottenham instead in a move that has not paid off for the Spaniard.
With a striker of Harry Kane’s quality available to Mauricio Pochettino, Llorente was never going to be first choice when it comes to leading the line.
What Llorente would not have expected, though, is to find himself on the bench when Kane has been unavailable, something that has happened on more than one occasion.
Considering that, the 33-year-old should now really be looking to leave the north London club when the transfer window opens in January. He simply has too much ability to basically be a third-choice centre-forward.
In his debut season in English football with Swansea City, he scored 15 Premier League goals despite being in a team that did not have much creativity outside of Gylfi Sigurdsson, showing just how good of a goalscorer he can be when on the pitch.
With that in mind, a move to an outfit such as Crystal Palace could be one that leaves everyone happy. The Eagles are in desperate need of a new No.9, and Llorente would be perfect given their direct approach under Roy Hodgson.
Meanwhile, Tottenham should be able to get a good fee with Crystal Palace having shown in recent transfer windows that they do have money in the bank.
But most importantly, Llorente would be getting minutes and a platform where he can truly thrive on.
Ultimately, Llorente’s transfer to Tottenham has clearly not worked out for anyone and a move elsewhere would now probably be best for all parties with Crystal Palace an ideal destination for the former Juventus man.
