Two Areas Crystal Palace Need To Strengthen In January To Have An Ideal Winter Transfer Window
The rumour mills are set to go abuzz again as we near the opening of the January transfer window. Having passed the halfway mark in the season, the clubs will be sketching out plans for the winter window and identifying key targets to sign as they hope to achieve their targets before the end of the season.
Crystal Palace’s season started off on a disastrous note and for most parts, it looked like the Eagles were primed for relegation. However, their recent renaissance under Roy Hodgson has seen them move out of the bottom three, into the 16th place, having just lost twice in ten games since the start of November.
The manager will be aware that the squad will need reinforcing over the January window in order to continue fighting for survival. And here we look at two positions that Crystal Palace should strengthen in the winter.
Goalkeeper
A new goalkeeper is very much the need of the hour for the Eagles. The club currently relies on 38-year old veteran shot-stopper Julian Speroni, after Wayne Hennessey’s dodgy performances between the sticks – he managed just a single clean sheet in 9 Premier League outings, conceding 18 goals.
While Speroni has done a fairly decent job in the recent games, his age is something that the club will need to keep in mind going into the second half of the season. Also, the fact that Hennessey’s contract with the Eagles is set to expire next summer will enable him to talk to other clubs starting next month. That is another big reason why it becomes pivotal for the London club to bring in a new goalkeeper at the earliest possible opportunity.
Striker
Goals were a big problem for Palace in the early parts of the season and while that hasn’t been the case in recent weeks since the return of Wilfried Zaha from injury, a new striker would definitely go a long way in helping the Eagles stave off relegation.
Palace, this season, have scored 18 times this term in the league – only Brighton, West Brom and Swansea City have scored fewer than them. They went into the season with only Christian Benteke as their fit and available centre-forward, with Connor Wickham facing a lengthy time on the sidelines due to a knee ligament damage.
However, Benteke has been struggling to repeat the form of last season and is underperforming severely – the Belgian has just one goal and an assist to his name in 14 league games. Hence, a new striker, who can hit the ground running, and take over the goal-scoring mantle for the Eagles could prove to be another vital addition in January.