Crystal Palace fans will be hoping for reinforcements during the summer transfer window, but presenter HLTCO believes they may struggle to get one deal over the line, while speaking to GIVEMESPORT.
Roy Hodgson managed to steer the Eagles away from relegation last season and will want to avoid his side competing towards the bottom of the Premier League.
Crystal Palace transfer news – Latest
It’s been a slow start to the transfer window for Palace, with Jefferson Lerma the only confirmed signing after his contract with fellow Premier League side Bournemouth expired.
The biggest news out of Selhurst Park is that Wilfried Zaha has now left the club, joining Turkish side Galatasaray.
The Ivorian winger will be a huge miss at Palace and the priority task for Hodgson and his recruitment team will be to find a replacement.
Recruiting a striker will undoubtedly be high on their list before the transfer window slams shut in September, with the current crop of forwards struggling to produce the goods.
In the Premier League, Palace’s two main striker options, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard, only managed seven goals between them, as per FBref.
What has HLTCO said about Crystal Palace?
HLTCO has addressed rumours linking Palace with a move for Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, suggesting that it could be difficult for the capital club to secure this signing.
The presenter adds that he can’t see the Eagles coughing up £40m to sign Nketiah, who was described as ‘phenomenal’ by Mikel Arteta last year.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: “I think it is difficult for clubs of our level, and I’m not trying to talk Crystal Palace down here of course, I live and breathe the football club. But to try and get a striker to come in to Crystal Palace who you can hang your hat on for 10, 15, 20 goals a season, is just a very, very difficult thing to do.
“You know, even if you go back a fair few years to when we went on to win promotion to the Premier League with Ian Dowie in charge, we had Andy Johnson up front. He was a striker that ran into the channels. He was a constant pest to opposition defenders and meshed perfectly with our tactical ideology at that time.
“Eddie Nketiah is someone that has been around the Arsenal squad in the Premier League for a fair while now. But I’ve seen all sorts of fees thrown about in terms of his potential value to Arsenal.
“Anything between 25 to 40 million pounds, and I just don’t see a scenario where Crystal Palace will happily spend £40m to land Eddie Nketiah, regardless of the fact that he was part of the squad that obviously finished second last season with Arsenal.
“I’m just not sure that we have that amount of financial flexibility and would want to put that much in the way of financial backing, I suppose you could say, towards him.
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What’s next for Crystal Palace?
Palace have to explore the transfer market for reinforcements, regardless of whether they sign Nketiah or not.
The loss of Zaha can’t be underestimated considering what he’s done for the club over the years, and they certainly can’t afford to lose another attacking talent.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano recently claimed that Michael Olise is attracting interest from Manchester City and Chelsea, so another priority will be to keep him at Selhurst Park.
