Why Nathan Ferguson could be an exciting signing for Crystal Palace
According to a report from the Daily Mail, Crystal Palace are eyeing West Brom’s teenage full-back Nathan Ferguson as a replacement for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Nathan Ferguson, 19, has been a revelation for the Baggies this season, playing ten times in the Championship, scoring once and providing one assist. He has been converted into a full-back and seems to enjoy playing in that role, establishing himself as probably one of the first names on Slaven Bilic’s team sheet.
The 19-year-old’s good performances have resulted in some top-flight clubs become interested in signing him, including Crystal Palace, who lost Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United during the summer transfer window.
Crystal Palace are in desperate need of a new right-back at the moment, with Wan-Bissaka’s departure leaving Roy Hodgson with Joel Ward and Martin Kelly as the only options.
Even though Ward has performed extremely well and made the right-back spot his own this season, the matter of fact is he is nowhere near Wan-Bissaka’s class and just cannot be relied upon for an entire season.
The Eagles have shown defensive frailties and they cannot afford to slip up post-January, after making such a good start to the new campaign. They have all the money from Wan-Bissaka’s sale and Hodgson must use it wisely while improving his defence when the transfer window reopens. To that end, Nathan Ferguson would be an exciting addition to the Palace backline.
Ferguson, who has only failed to start once this season, burst onto the scene when West Brom boss Slaven Bilic had no choice but to turn to him due to injuries.
The youngster scored his first goal for the Baggies in their away win at QPR in late September. He is already earning rave reviews at the club, splitting his time at right-back and left-back with his ability to play on both flanks making him almost indispensable to Bilic.
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The full-back is still only 19 and if he can build on the positive performances that we’ve seen from him already this season, then he’s going to have a bright future ahead of him.
It would be a smart move by West Brom to tie him down to a new deal as soon as possible as he’s out of contract at the end of the season.
Verdict
Nevertheless, Palace must do everything possible to poach Ferguson during the winter transfer window. West Brom should be smart to tie him down to a new contract.
If nothing else, it will mean that Bilic’s side are able to demand a higher fee if he does leave.