West Ham and Crystal Palace are said to have struck a dealplaceholder image
West Ham and Crystal Palace are said to have struck a deal | AFP via Getty Images
Crystal Palace are said to have agreed another purplexing deal during the January window, only for it to fall through.
Palace then signed Brennan Johnson and ended up landing Evann Guessand on loan, but they dropped the ball when their sale of Jean-Philippe Mateta fell through and they still went through with a £47million deal to sign one-goal Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Much of Palace’s business left fans baffled, and there is now news of another move that almost went through, and that too would likely have left fans questioning the direction of their team.
The Athletic have now reported: “Palace had agreed a deal in principle to sell Eddie Nketiah to West Ham for £27m early in the window only for the striker to sustain a hamstring injury in training, meaning any possible January move was moot. He has not featured this calendar year.
“They would have proposed securing West Ham’s Callum Wilson in a separate deal, but Glasner was initially unconvinced. By the time he was more open to securing the striker, Wilson had scored a winning goal against Tottenham in the middle of the month and his reintegration into the first team had scuppered any chance of him leaving.”
That’s a huge claim. Palace would have made their money back on Nketiah, who has struggled with injury, but the former Arsenal striker has plenty of upside still to come at 26 years of age, and given Mateta will almost certainly leave in the summer, a Larsen and Nketiah tandem seems to make sense.
Wilson has also had his fair share of injuries, and he is 33 years of age, meaning it is no guarantee that he will remain Premier League quality next season, so that would have been a huge risk. Palace would have been striking a double deal that may have helped them short-term, but it would have left them in a complicated situation next season, with Larsen and a likely past it back-up striker, assuming Mateta will go.
It’s another baffling Palace though-process, and fans must be wondering what the sporting direction is as they begin their search for a new manager to replace Oliver Glasner this summer.
As for West Ham, they likely would have had the better of that deal, even if Wilson has returned to form a little over recent weeks. Though, the £27million investment would have had the potential to come back to bite them given they could be in the Championship next season.
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