Why signing Cenk Tosun could resolve Crystal Palace’s finishing woes
The Daily Mail suggests that Crystal Palace are targeting a loan deal for Everton outcast Cenk Tosun.
The Turkish striker has spent most of the time on the benches this season and there seems to be no particular change even after the arrival of new boss Carlo Ancelotti.
He has played a mere 5 league games so far and has been handed only a single appearance by Ancelotti.
After arriving from Besiktas for a sum of £27million midway through the 2017-18 campaign, Cenk Tosun has failed to establish himself as a regular due to his inconsistency in front of the goal.
He was pretty decent in his first season, scoring 5 goals from 14 matches but has since then faded in form. He has managed to find the back of the net just 5 times from all competitions since that debut season, raising serious concerns about his finishing abilities.
However, it should be noted that it was the 28-year-old’s prolific goal-scoring prowess that earned him a move to Goodison Park.
Before switching to the Merseyside club, he was a crucial player for his former side Besiktas, scoring a whopping 64 goals from a total of 142 matches for the Turkish outfit.
His 20 league goals in the 2016-17 season for Besiktas helped them emerge as Turkish top-division champions, pushing him into the limelight.
Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson’s Palace, who are currently sitting 9th in the table, have struggled for goals this season, with the side scoring a mere 19 goals from 21 league games.
Though they have managed to grab a top-ten spot as of now, Hodgson knows that it would be difficult to hold on to it for a long if goals start drying up.
That said, Hodgson is in the lookout for a new striker, who could help them score on a regular basis in order to end the season on a good note. For the Eagles, except summer signing Jordan Ayew, the rest of the forwards have failed to impress until now.
Ayew is Palace’s top-scorer in the league at the moment with 5 goals, while seasoned campaigner and former Liverpool striker Christian Benteke is yet to open his account despite featuring in 15 games.
English striker Connor Wickham, meanwhile, has not been favoured much by the Palace boss and has spent his time mostly on the benches. However, he still has a goal from 5 league appearances.
Hodgson would be aware of the fact that the shortage of consistent goal-scorers will have a drastic effect on his side’s performances in the coming days and in Cenk Tosun, he has a feasible option ahead of him.
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Verdict
Having been consistently overlooked, Cenk Tosun will be eager to prove a point if the Palace deal materializes. Meanwhile, the Eagles could, in turn, make good use of this opportunity to get themselves back amongst the goals.
Having proven his credentials before, the Turkish finisher would be a perfect fit at Palace, with the side’s old guards yet to hit form.
Hence, signing the Toffees outcast on loan would be a good stop-gap solution for the Eagles, who are just two points off the Europa League play-off berth.