Andros Townsend’s links with Newcastle United are growing stronger every day and despite both Sam Allardyce and the player denying it, a change is very much possible given how close the Eagles are hovering over the relegation zone.
The Magpies sold him last summer for £13m and at the moment Newcastle United’s chances of gaining promotion to the top tier is much more than Palace surviving the relegation. And according to The Telegraph, Benitez is quite enthusiastic about a potential reunion with the sometime England winger on Tyneside.
Here are 3 replacements, Crystal Palace could opt to sign if Townsend leaves.
Alex Pritchard
Norwich’s talented winger has been on the radar for many top clubs for some time and Burnley are real favourites to land the 23-year-old. As a deal of £8m is doing the rounds, we could assume that Palace could meet the amount quite easily.
A Tottenham Hotspur academy product, Pritchard moved to the Championship just last summer for a reported £8m fee from White Hart Lane. And Allardyce can hand him his big break now. He has been a regular for Norwich in their Championship campaign appearing 18 times for the Canaries and even scoring twice.
His perfect through balls and measured long shots have grabbed numerous eyeballs and he could be pretty effective from set-pieces with his ability to chip in dangerous deliveries for Christian Benteke up front.
Max Gradel
Gradel is a player, who hasn’t seen much first team action this season so far and is hungry to play. The Ivory Coast international is away at the African Cup of Nations to serve his nation. Palace have enough time to make a move. Although Watford are the favourites to land the winger and talks have progressed with his representatives, Allardyce have more money to splash.
He has been quite unfortunate lately. The former Saint-Etienne player signed a four-year contract with Bournemouth last summer and could manage only 5 appearances from the bench till now due to a nasty injury.
However, he has bagged a goal in the two EFL Cup starts, which says a lot about his quality. An academy product of Leicester City, Gradel has played in clubs like Leeds United and Bournemouth before he moved to France. He will be bringing a huge chunk of experience.
Yacine Brahimi
Brahimi has been a significant figure for FC Porto this season scoring three goals in 9 appearances. It was his Champions League goal that helped Porto break Leicester’s perfect UCL run and qualify to the knockout stages.
He has been dangerous from the wings creating 12 chances and two assists. He has completed 153 passes this season with a pass accuracy of 81%, out of which 67% were forward passes. His brute strength helps him to outmuscle his way on the wings and his physique enables him to hold the ball better than most players.
