Latest reports are linking Watford striker Stefano Okaka with a shock move to Crystal Palace. The 28-year-old striker has clocked only 206 minutes of Premier League action this season in his six appearances and just scored once. The striker is way behind in the pecking order with players like club captain Troy Deeney, Andre Gray and Richarlison being preferred. Okaka is majorly seen as a backup option by manager Marco Silva.
The youth product from Roma spent 7 years at the club but only went on to make 33 appearances for the club scoring 1 goal. He hit form at Anderlecht where he scored 17 goals in 49 games and it earned him a move to Watford in 2016.
It now seems that the player could be on the move again, this time to Crystal Palace with Watford ready to sell the striker for a reported fee of around 10 million pounds. Okaka had scored four goals in 10 league appearances last season and after spending another 6 months this time around on the bench, he would want to move to a club where he can get more time.
This brings Crystal Palace into the picture, who themselves are looking for two new strikers. Crystal Palace had the worst possible start to the season. After the first seven-game weeks, the team was sitting on zero points having lost all seven matches. It eventually led to the sacking of manager Frank De Boer and the Dutchman was replaced by Roy Hodson. The change did not have an immediate effect but the big turnaround came with a win against champions Chelsea.
Five wins and seven draws in the league under Hodgson has considerably improved the club and they are now 14th in the league having collected 22 points from 22 games. The Palace players who had been inconsistent and unimpressive, to say the least, are showing signs of hard work and churning out decent performances. As was proven with his return, missing Christian Benteke was not the only reason for the club suffering this season as even after his comeback, the Belgian has not been able to replicate his old form.
Their midfield leaders Yohan Cabaye and James McArthur had been poor and been unable to link up well with the fast attackers like Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend. Okaka’s move to Palace will allow Hodgson to rotate his options up front and should the Italian be able to find his scoring boots, he may well be able to help Palace to a decent finish this season after their nightmare start.
