Palace can solve striker crisis courtesy of Man City fire sale
Published:
Having got no nearer to purchasing Christian Benteke at the second convoluted attempt and, with time growing increasingly precious, Crystal Palace must act swiftly to avoid the perils of a season of struggle in front of goal.
With the Benteke deal hitting the buffers, help for Alan Pardew could be at hand thanks to a certain Spanish counterpart.
Since his official unveiling as Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola has been less than shy with his intentions to purge some elements of the squad he inherited.
As England stopper Joe Hart is finding, profile doesn’t appear to bother the former Barcelona boss either.
Others widely believed to have their Etihad cards marked include Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala, however, it’s the grave doubt over Wilfried Bony’s future that should have Pardew lurching for the receiver.
The former Swansea hitman cost a pretty penny when securing a £25m January move in 2015, but the classic cocktail of added pressure, a lofty price tag and less playing time has seen the Ivorian’s career suffer.
Having returned prolific tallies of 53 in 73 and 35 in 70 for Vitesse and the Swans respectively, Bony has managed a total of 10 goals in 46 at the Etihad.
However, at 27 the once plentiful source of goals is by no means beyond his sell-by-date and could offer the likes of Palace the perfect foil for wingers Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha to aim at.
Bony has already proved his worth in the Premier League when playing week-in-week-out at the Liberty Stadium.
If you look at the paltry Premier League returns of current first-choice option Connor Wickham has offered in his time at Selhurst Park, the City man, despite his own downturn, would be a massive upgrade.
Having cost the Citizens around £7m less than Liverpool splurged on Benteke too, Bony ought to be a fair bit cheaper which would be the icing on the cake.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
