BBC has reported that Crystal Palace are currently negotiating a deal with EFL Championship club, Preston North End for their striker, Jordan Hugill. The 25-year-old’s contract with the Lillywhites is set to run until the summer of 2019 and might cost Palace £10m to acquire his services.
Hugill started his footballing career with Northern League club, Seaham Red Star and had earned himself a trial with Sunderland at the age of 16. However, an ankle injury prevented him from making it to the Stadium of Light and forced him to take his talents to Spain.
It was at Port Vale, where he started to find his scoring boots slotting in 5 in 24 appearances. Preston took notice of the youngster’s prospects in front of goal and signed him up on a two-year deal in the summer of 2014. He was held to high praise by then-manager, Simon Grayson.
Even though his early stages were plagued with a long-term injury, Hugil came back stronger and has racked up 30 goals in 114 total appearances for Preston. He has netted the ball 10 times and has furthered 2 assists this season and is the club’s starting number nine under Alex Neil.
Crystal Palace’s shambolic start to the 2017/18 campaign has been resurrected in recent times under the guidance of former England coach, Roy Hodgson. The Eagles are currently enjoying a run in the 13th spot of the points table 3 points above the bottom three even after falling victim to a 4-1 thrashing from Arsenal at the Emirates last Saturday.
Hodgson has instilled a significant amount of inspiration into the Palace squad who almost snatched three points away from league leaders, Manchester City in their last game of 2017. But even though the side has seen a certain amount of defensive restructuring their ability to find the back of the net has struggled over the season.
First team striker, Christian Benteke has registered just one goal this season and the Belgian’s incompetence is starting to frustrate the fans at Selhurst Park.
Even though are not in the relegation zone, the London-based club is in no way out of the gruelling final battle just yet. Hugill’s arrival can provide them with the necessary attacking threat to make the final push towards the end of the season.
The Eagles have been successful in swatting away transfer offers for Wilfried Zaha and if Hugill hits the ground running on his arrival to Selhurst Park, they should be favoured to win well away from the relegation scrap.
