Crystal Palace have been tipped to make a surprise addition to their ranks in January, with the Eagles even preparing their opening offer to add a fresh new face to Oliver Glasner‘s side, according to one report.
Mixed start for Crystal Palace
The summer transfer window was dominated by speculation about potential departures from Selhurst Park, but the return of the Premier League has brought little consolation thus far.
Michael Olise departed for Bayern Munich, while Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi were both strongly linked with moves to other Premier League sides, and Joachim Andersen departed for Fulham.
To replace their star winger, Palace signed several new attacking players, with Daichi Kamada arriving on a free transfer, Ismaila Sarr joining from Marseille and the club making a late move to sign Arsenal attacker Eddie Nketiah.
However, they are yet to replace any of the goals or assists provided by the departing Olise, while the south London side have been uncharacteristically leaky at the back, with seven goals conceded in their opening four games and two of their new defensive signings set for spells on the sidelines already.
It has left them sitting just above the relegation zone with just two points to their name, while they were forced to rely on a stoppage-time Jean Philippe Mateta penalty just to rescue a draw against newly promoted Leicester City in their most recent outing. Now, they are already looking to January and the winter transfer window, if reports are to be believed.
Crystal Palace ready £8.5m move for new forward
That comes as reports in Spain claim that the Eagles are readying a move worth up to €10m (£8.5m) to sign Real Sociedad attacker Sheraldo Becker in what could be a somewhat bizarre move for the south London side.
Becker only joined Sociedad at the beginning of 2024 but has played across the frontline during his 23 appearances for the Spanish side, grabbing three goals in the process.
It was at Union Berlin that he really thrived, with content creator Shark Gutierrez dubbing him “class” and “quality” on X back in 2022 as he finished the season with 11 goals and 7 assists.
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Sheraldo Becker at Real Sociedad |
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Appearances |
23 |
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Starts |
14 |
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Goals |
3 |
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Assists |
2 |
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Minutes per goal/assist |
264 |
However, his performances at his new club appear to have caught Glasner’s eye, with the report claiming that Palace are “preparing an offer close to 10 million euros” to sign the 29-year-old, as they believe the “forward’s profile fits perfectly in the Premier League”.
It is added that Sociedad would be open to selling him as it would see them turn a profit on the £5m they signed him from Union Berlin for less than 12 months ago and that a deal “could be finalised in the coming months”.
On paper, it is a move that makes little sense to Palace at present, with three new faces already at the club to bolster their attack alongside Eze and Mateta. However, with reports linking both the England international and Olympic runner-up with moves away in the months to come and with Mateta having suggested he could have been open to leaving over the summer, it may well be an early move to replace either of their stars before they move on.