Each passing day at Selhurst Park throws up a shock new growth. Certainly, it has been a busy couple of days in case you’re a Crystal Palace supporter, with Marc Guehi now formally a Manchester Metropolis participant, Oliver Glasner confirming he is leaving the Premier League job submit on the finish of the season, and the information that Jean Philippe Mateta might additionally quickly be on the transfer.
As per David Ornstein, Aston Villa are believed to now be in for the free-flowing Frenchman, who will certainly see the developments that preserve occurring in South London as an indicator that he ought to depart the ship shortly.
Secure to say, Eagles supporters might do with some cheering up, with all the awful information that continues to be reported on, as a brand new striker appears to be on the January precedence record.
Crystal Palace focusing on £40m Guessand different
It does stay to be seen whether or not the Palace hierarchy will put their cash the place their mouth is through the window, with Glasner glumly stating that he feels “deserted” by the powers that be, as his Eagles squad stays threadbare.
To assist with the sunshine squad scenario, Ornstein revealed that whereas Mateta could possibly be on his strategy to Villa Park, the Eagles are ‘evaluating’ their very own transfer for Evann Guessand, with the Ivorian having solely joined Unai Emery’s aspect over the summer time.
Guessand would not look like the one choice, nevertheless, as TEAMTalk are reporting that the Eagles have in-demand Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen on their radar.
Palace may have a struggle on their arms to land the £40m-rated attacker, although, with the report additional elaborating that Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest are all within the Norwegian’s providers, alongside Glasner’s males.
Hopefully, the reigning FA Cup holders will have the ability to lastly flex some muscle within the window and win Strand Larsen, forward of all their rivals, with the imposing 6-foot-4 marksman probably a second coming of Mateta.
Why Strand Larsen will be Mateta 2.0
If Mateta had been to depart, very similar to Guehi, it will go away a gaping gap in one other space of Palace’s depleted camp, with the towering striker bagging a mightily spectacular 56 targets for the Eagles throughout his final 5 full seasons on the membership.
With eight targets additionally beneath his belt this season, and the tag of being “among the finest strikers within the Premier League” above his head by scout Ben Mattinson, there can be immense stress on Strand Larsen’s shoulders to right away make up for the potent Frenchman now not being round.
But, the Outdated Gold quantity 9 did not fall sufferer to the pressures of the Premier League throughout his debut season on the stage final marketing campaign, with goalscoring nice Alan Shearer hailing him as a “nuisance” for defenders to take care of, when placing away 14 targets from solely 30 league begins, at the same time as Wolves repeatedly loitered close to the drop zone.
He has fallen in need of these requirements this season, as Wolves look resigned to the Championship, with just one Premier League objective heading his approach.
Consequently, talkSPORT pundit and former top-flight striker Darren Bent has accused Strand Larsen of “doing completely nothing” up entrance when being repeatedly bullied and frozen out of video games by defenders.
|
Strand Larsen vs Mateta – PL stats (24/25) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat |
Strand Larsen |
Mateta |
|
Video games performed |
35 |
37 |
|
Targets scored |
14 |
14 |
|
Assists |
4 |
2 |
|
Targets from contained in the field |
12 |
12 |
|
Conversion fee % |
28.57% |
26.42% |
|
Passes tried |
451 |
420 |
|
Passes accomplished |
294 |
286 |
|
Aerial duels gained |
67 |
64 |
|
Aerial duel success fee % |
40.12% |
37.43% |
|
Stats by Squawka |
||
But, Mateta has additionally been susceptible to a dreadful patch of kind at Selhurst Park, himself, as evidenced by him solely bagging two targets all through all the 2022/23 season.
Nonetheless, he bounced again resiliently, and based mostly on Strand Larsen’s numbers within the desk above throughout his 14-goal peak, he’s greater than able to changing the 6-foot-4 focus if he can, too, put his personal out-of-sorts run to at least one aspect.
There have additionally been indicators of Strand Larsen snapping again into being a monster within the Cup competitions this season, bagging a hat-trick in opposition to a hapless Shrewsbury City within the FA Cup earlier this month.
Able to enjoying on the ground or as a targetman along with his lofty body, it is clear that Strand Larsen can be a reliable substitute for Mateta if it had been required, because the Palace makeover past Glasner – and maybe their treasured quantity 14 – comes into full drive.
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