Why Chris Wood Would Be A Great Addition For Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace’s hunt for a new manager doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. The Eagles have been without a manager for close to a month now, after Sam Allardyce sensationally quit his job after having led the team to safety from relegation in the Premier League.
With no new appointment made, it has led to Palace holding off on completing transfer deals for players as they wait for a new boss. However, it hasn’t stopped the tabloids from linking players with a move to the Selhurst Park and one name that has been doing the rounds recently is Leeds United forward Chris Wood.
The 25-year old striker was in hot form last season for the Whites and Palace have been installed as one of the favourites to sign him, by bookmakers SkyBet. The bookmakers have Palace at 14/1 to sign Wood, only behind Premier League newbies Huddersfield Town (6/1) and recently relegated outfit Middlesbrough (8/1).
The Eagles were embroiled in the battle to survive relegation for large parts last season, until Big Sam masterminded a turnaround in the latter stages to help them avoid the drop to the EFL Championship. They eventually finished in the 15th place in the Premier League, but with the quality players that they possess, Palace should have been challenging for a place in the top half of the table.
They will, without a doubt, want to better their returns in the season ahead and will need to strengthen several areas on the pitch to put together a stronger campaign. One of those areas will be the strike force that possesses just Christian Benteke as the only option at this point of time, with Connor Wickham out injured for a long time.
A new forward will be an important piece of business that the new manager will want to get done and Leeds’ Chris Wood presents himself as a more than viable option for the Eagles. The New Zealand international finished last campaign as the leading goal-scorer in the EFL Championship with 27 goals to his name from 44 games, as he led the Yorkshire based club’s charge for a playoff position from the front, which faltered at the business end of the season. A natural finisher and an equally strong header of the ball, Wood will bring a lot of goals with him if Palace manage to sign him.
There are concerns over his lack of exposure and experience in the Premier League – he has made just 9 appearances in the top flight, during his days with Leicester City. The fact that he will bring in a lot of attributes similar to what Christian Benteke adds to the team would render the Palace attacking line a bit of one dimensionality.
However, at 25, Wood still is relatively young and has age on his side, which would definitely allow him to develop and improve his all-round game. He has shown that he can score goals in plenty and could turn out to be a very good piece of investment for Palace, if they manage to get their hands on him.