January Transfer Blueprint: Crystal Palace
***The Transfer Blueprint series details what each Premier League club should be looking for as the January window approaches. Comment below with your own thoughts about what each club should acquire***
The Blueprint Series continues today with tenth place Crystal Palace. Alan Pardew’s men have exceeded expectations through 11 matches and have played some stylish football. Still, their roster certainly has several holes. Read on to find what Palace must do in January to march up the top half of the Premier League table.
What They Should Buy: The weird truth about Crystal Palace is while their attack is fun to watch, the attackers themselves haven’t played that well. Most would be surprised to know that Jason Puncheon actually has been the best of their attacking players per Whoscored.com. Certainly Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie have had their moments, but they’ve been inconsistent.
Alan Pardew would be wise to push for the purchase of two consistent attacking players. They should move for an attacking midfielder who would contrast with Bolasie and Zaha. They don’t need more pace, instead they should opt for a more physical presence. They need someone in addition to Yohan Cobaye who can unlock their pace on the outside.
It almost goes without saying that they need to prioritize a striker purchase as well. Unless Connor Wickham manages to figure his game out all of a sudden, they are shockingly light up top. Neither Dwight Gayle, Bakary Sako or Frazier Campbell has the tools to play alone up top either. The purchase of a solid striker could transform their tricky attack.
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The good news for Palace fans is the defense and midfield are in pretty good shape. Cabaye has been their engine and James McArthur has been solid enough as a partner. No help is required there.
Further back you find more solid players. Scott Dann has been a rock in defense. While the calls for him to make the England squad are a bit much, his play has been excellent. The rest of the back four aren’t great, but they’re good enough.
What They Should Sell: The trouble with Palace is they have too much invested in players who are too alike. There is zero logic in having Dwight Gayle and Frazier Campbell in the same side. They don’t offer anything to distinguish themselves from the other. As such, selling whichever nets you the highest profit makes a lot of sense.
Outside of that, there isn’t a lot of talent to sell. They should hold on to their squad depth as an asset to aid their push for Europa League qualification.
What They Will Do: Palace spent a great deal of their available resources in the summer so I suspect any moves they make will be relatively modest. They will bring in another striking option but I doubt it will be much of a difference maker. In all honesty, it will probably be a reclamation project that is cast off from another club.
Alan Pardew’s men should be applauded for their efforts on the year. If they are able to add smartly in January they might just sneak into the top eight.