Who is Crystal Palace’s new signing Jairo Riedewald?
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They’ve taken their time so far this summer, but now it appears Crystal Palace are ramping up their transfer activity.
Having brought in Frank de Boer to succeed Sam Allardyce, the Eagles welcomed the highly-rated Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan from Chelsea earlier this week.
And now they’re set for their first permanent acquisition of the window in the shape of Jairo Riedewald for around £8m.
But who is Palace’s new man?
The 20-year-old arrives from Ajax, after coming through the famous youth setup at the Dutch giants.
Primarily a centre-half, it was De Boer himself who handed the Haarlem-born defender his first team breakthrough in 2013.
Riedewald made a sensational senior debut just three months after turning 17, scoring twice in 10 minutes to defeat Roda JC.
And since then he’s quickly established himself as a key figure in a youthful and talented Ajax squad.
After making a handful of appearances in that breakout campaign, the versatile defender was a regular in 2014-15.
Appearing in over half of Ajax’s Eredivisie fixtures, Riedewald has also gathered crucial experience in Europe, holding his own in midfield against Barcelona in the Champions League.
In 2015-16 he was by now a first-team regular at the heart of the defence, and missed just one game through suspension before an ankle injury in February ended his season prematurely.
De Boer left his post at the end of the year however, and his successor Peter Bosz decided to trial Riedewald in several roles last term.
He made just 16 league appearances (compared to 23 the year before) and many of those came in defensive midfield.
Riedelwald was also in and out of the squad’s Europa League run too, although he did start at left-back in the final, losing to Manchester United.
A talented and versatile defender with experience that belies his years, Riedelwald’s best form has come under De Boer, and that bodes well for his move to South London.
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