Two Players Who Crystal Palace Can Target This January
Having taken charge of the squad at Selhurst Park, Roy Hodgson has managed to pick four hard-fought points, but it still sees them at 20th position in the table after 11 games into the season. Though injuries to key players has played a part, Palace are a team that cannot seem to do anything right this season and might need some fresh faces come the turn of the year.
The manager is already looking at possible transfer targets for January and here are two players he should definitely target:
Danny Ings (Liverpool)
The English international has been unlucky with injuries in his time at Anfield. In his two years at the club, Ings has just 12 appearances for the club in all competitions, missing most of the games due to two prolonged injuries. He is finally back to full fitness and is starting regularly for the U23 squad at Anfield, for who he recently scored four goals in a game.
He is wanted by a number of clubs in England on loan, as Liverpool are unlikely to sell him, and Palace might be a decent destination for him to go out on loan to. Offering a different dimension to Christian Benteke, the 25-year old could be the solution to Palace’s woes in front of goal and playing alongside the likes of Zaha and Townsend could also help him improve as a player, giving Liverpool enough incentive to send him out on loan to the Selhurst Park.
Islam Slimani (Leicester City)
The 29-year old record buy for Leicester City, Slimani made a decent start to his time at the King Power Stadium but from the start of the current season, he has been a bit too cold. Having lost the trust of previous manager Craig Shakespeare, he has managed just 107 minutes of league football in England this season and has extensively been linked with an exit in January.
Most Premier League clubs from the wrong end of the table eye him as a bargain buy and the Eagles are not an exception. With 12 goals and 6 assists in 38 games for the Foxes, he has a decent record in England and though Claude Puel, the new manager might offer him more chances, starting regularly at Palace might be enough to lure him out of Leicester City. Benteke and Slimani could form a strike force that can terrorise even the best of defences. However, whether Palace can fight the competition from other clubs is something that will only be answered in January.