According to the BBC, Crystal Palace’s proposed six-month loan deal for Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke has collapsed – despite Eagles chairman Steve Parish claiming a deal was close when talking to beIN SPORTS before the recent loss at home to Chelsea.
It is believed that Schalke are interested and have an advantageÂthanks to their Director of Football’s relationship with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, which would be sure to leave Parish with egg on his face having looked so pleased with himself in the video above.
The club from south London have made the decision not to complete a deal for the Englishman, as they are concerned about his fitness levels and want a player who is able to hit the ground running immediately according to The Sun.
Given the fact that Solanke appeared to be the Eagles’ first choice striking target, there are a lot of potential consequences from pulling out of the deal that could impact the Premier League strugglers…
Tension between chairman and manager
One would assume that Parish and Roy Hodgson are not exactly best friends in a business sense anyway, as the Eagles’ chief has given his manager just £20m to spend in two windows since his appointment.
One of his two signings that merited a fee, Alexander Sorloth, is set to leave the club this month, which suggests that Hodgson wasn’t a huge factor behind the move as he is happy for the 22-year-old to depart less than a year on.
Speaking after he watched his side beat Wolves on Wednesday, Hodgson appeared to be upset at the deal breaking down, saying: “Yes, it seems to be. Unfortunately it is a club decision. These are things that you accept as a manager, because there are always elements that are beyond the coach’s control.”
He may well also be annoyed at Parish as well for revealing their business before it had been completed. Money is tight at Palace, and the touted loan move for Solanke may have been Hodgson’s best hope of getting a decent forward in.
No striker at allÂ
Hodgson has already said that there’s no guarantee that his side will spend money this month, the suggestion being that there is little money to spend at Selhurst Park. The loan deal for Solanke may have been the only way that Palace could get an effective striker through the door, or at least one that won’t break the bank.
It is obvious that the Eagles need a striker. Desperately. They have scored just five goals at home all season, and hadn’t seen a striker score a goal from open play for them since last January when Christian Benteke netted at the London Stadium until Jordan Ayew netted against Wolves.
Should their failure to sign Solanke see them not get anyone in this month, their Premier League status will be in danger.
Check out Neymar’s controversial new haircut for 2019 and Xherdan Shaqiri as you’ve never seen him before in the video below..,
Becoming reliant on faltering options
If they don’t secure a Solanke plan B, Palace will be stuck with Connor Wickham and the aforementioned Benteke as their main hopes for goals, seeing as Sorloth looks likely to leave and Jordan Ayew has just one goal to his name – the Ghanaian didn’t even get off the bench against Chelsea recently, despite Palace failing to have a shot on goal.
The problems with relying on Wickham and Benteke are endless. They both have injury issues, and accordingly have just four league starts between them this season. Even when they are fit, they can’t be relied upon for goals – you’d have to go back to April for the Belgian’s last strike, which came from the penalty spot.
Wickham hasn’t scored a goal since November 2016, and even in the 2015/16 season when he managed to make 21 appearances, he could only muster up five league goals.