If reports are to be believed, Crystal Palace have now joined the race with the newly promoted Newcastle United to secure the services of Ligue 1 winger Jonathan Bamba. While Newcastle’s concern with the lack of wingers is widely known following their repeated failure to land one this summer, the Eagles are likely to offload Andros Townsend and are looking for a replacement.
Both the clubs opened their campaign with defeats and although the Magpies’ loss to Tottenham Hotspur could be justified given the progress the Lilywhites have made in the past two seasons, Palace losing to Huddersfield Town will be unacceptable, bringing in vile criticisms from the crowd on new manager Frank De Boer.
The Dutch gaffer has arrived at Selhurst Park amidst terrible uncertainty among fan and critics, who have every reason to believe that he will be a failure in England, following a poor stint in Italy with Inter Milan. And an opening day 3-0 defeat at the hands of the newly promoted Terriers has only help cement their apprehensions.
The Eagles found it difficult to score in the initial stages of the previous season too after Sam Allardyce’s arrival revealed that it was just lack of confidence that the players were suffering from. In the likes of Wilfred Zaha, Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend, Palace do boost of a terrific trio up front that can take on the best of defences.
De Boer might need some time to get acquainted with the league and the Eagles will surely hand him time till January to prove his worth. Palace have been quieter in the summer following the heavy recruitment that Big Sam did last January. De Boer has brought in centre-half Jairo Riedewald from AFC Ajax, midfielders Timothy Fosu-Mensah from Manchester United (loan) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea (loan).
All the buys strengthen their defence to a large extent and De Boer has hardly needed any major changes up front until they started to receive offers for Townsend. The English winger, although quite underwhelming in the past few seasons, remain in huge demand for many clubs with Newcastle United and Leicester City his long-term admirers.
And selling him will need Palace to get an equally potential replacement on the right wing that Bamba could prove to be. The 21-year-old France Under-21 international has caught the attention of some with his sparkling displays for Ligue1 side St. Etienne. It was his assist that led the side to win 1-0 win at Caen in the opening game. He scored three times in 16 Ligue 1 appearances last season during his loan stint with the Angers.
A right-sider by nature, Bamba can play through the middle with equal ease and could likely be seen as a direct replacement for Townsend. Palace holds a better lure than Newcastle at the moment and are likely to edge them out in the race.
