Crystal Palace need to make a call on the future of Jairo Riedewald at the earliest
According to claims from German news outlet Kicker, as cited by Football London, Crystal Palace defender Jairo Riedewald was on the verge of joining Paderborn on loan for the remainder of the ongoing campaign, although a deal collapsed shortly before the deadline.
The 22-year-old is currently way down the pecking order at Selhurst Park and the report suggests that newly-promoted Bundesliga outfit Paderborn literally had his shirt number ready, only for a deal to fall through.
A product of the widely revered Ajax youth system, Riedewald made 93 appearances for the Dutch heavyweights in all competitions following his breakthrough in the 2013-14 season before completing a move to South London for a fee of £7.9 million back in the summer of 2017.
However, in a tumultuous sequence of events, the man who was responsible for bringing Riedewald to Crystal Palace, Frank de Boer, was replaced by the Eagles just two weeks into his career and with Roy Hodgson at the helm of affairs ever since, the 22-year-old has turned into somewhat of a forgotten figure at Selhurst Pak.
Noted for his ball-playing qualities and ability to break up the play, Riedewald was held in high regard at Ajax but his career has been in a complete freefall over the past two years, with the versatile defender failing to break into Hodgson’s plans.
Realistically, the writing was on the wall for the 3-cap Dutch international after he failed to make even a single appearance for the Eagles in the Premier League last season, with most of his involvement coming in the domestic cup competitions.
Unsurprisingly, things have hardly changed for the youngster this term and he has been nowhere close to breaking into the first-team for the Premier League fixtures, although Riedewald did start in the penalty-shootout defeat to Colchester United in the League Cup.
Indeed, things might have been a lot different for Riedewald had de Boer still been in charge but the Dutchman is currently facing the risk of been stuck in limbo at Selhurst Park until January, given that Hodgson apparently has no intentions of including him in his plans.
Also, with James Tomkins, Scott Dann, Martin Kelly and Mamadou Sakho all in the ranks, it is hard to see how Riedewald would get enough playtime to impress the manager.
Ideally, the best thing for all parties would have been a loan move elsewhere in the summer but given that such a deal never came to fruition, Palace might as well look to sort out the youngster’s future sooner rather than later.
The transfer window is still open in a few European countries, including Portugal, meaning that Palace could try and push hard to secure a loan move for the Dutchman.
He is likely to be shipped out on loan in January anyway, so it hardly makes sense for Palace to pay him wages for doing next to nothing over the next four months.
Looking at things from the player’s perspective, Riedewald is a real talent and it is a shame that he hasn’t had a chance to stake a claim for a role at Palace for a number of reasons. However, he is at a stage in his career where he needs to play regularly and the Eagles should not stand in his way.
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He still has three more years remaining on his current contract but it would be a big surprise if he stays at the club for that long, particularly if Hodgson continues to be at the helm of affairs.
With that in mind, the Eagles need to make a call on his future at the earliest.