Crystal Palace are now reportedly keen to throw their hat in the ring to sign a new face who is struggling for game time at his current side, according to a fresh report.
Crystal Palace finding form
It was a tough start to the season for Oliver Glasner’s side, but their form has dramatically picked up in recent weeks. Winless in the Premier League until a win over Tottenham in their ninth game of the season, the Eagles have since lost just one of their last nine games, and thrashed Brighton 3-1 at the AMEX stadium in their latest top flight outing.
Now up to 15th and four points clear of the relegation zone, Glasner’s side are looking to make up for lost time and push into midtable across the remainder of the campaign, and are set to use the January transfer window to give them a boost in that pursuit.
Last month, a report from Football Insider claimed that Palace were “set to be among the busiest clubs in the January transfer window”, while Glasner himself stressed the importance of doing business early, explaining: “The goal of all of us is that if we sign a player, we sign him on January 1 and he starts training with us.”
As a result, they are expected to be busy in the weeks leading up to the January transfer window, with a new attacker and wingbacks likely to feature highly on their wishlist. Now though, they are reportedly eyeing a move to bolster their backline.
Crystal Palace monitoring Atalanta man
That comes as The Boot Room report that Crystal Palace are among the sides interested in signing Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey in the January transfer window.
The defender only joined the Bergamo side over the summer, but has seen his game time limited for the Serie A leaders, making just a single substitute appearance in the top flight so far.
Though he still has nearly five years left to run on his £73k a week deal with La Dea, it has been reported that the club are already open to his departure in the January window, with a loan move being the most likely solution.
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That has caught the eye of several Premier League sides, and the report claims that the Eagles are “fans” of the 26-year-old and “would be interested in pursuing a January deal” should he become available.
Though Godfrey has struggled in recent seasons, he was praised by Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti when the pair worked together at Everton, with Ancelotti singling him out for praise.
|
Ben Godfrey’s gametime struggles |
|
|---|---|
|
Season |
Starts in Domestic League |
|
2024-25 |
0 |
|
2023-24 |
13 |
|
2022-23 |
10 |
|
2021-22 |
23 |
|
2020-21 |
29 |
“He was a signing from the club, from our scouts, and he has been really good. He has been able to adapt very quickly to different positions,” Ancelotti explained. “I think the best quality that Ben Godfrey has is the speed, he’s really fast and really aggressive with or without the ball.
“He’s tactically good, he can play in all of the positions without any problems, he’s played two months at left back. He’s always good.”
Were Godfrey to arrive, he would likely be viewed as an option in the heart of Glasner’s three-man defence, which has been beset by injuries to summer signing Chadi Riad and Chris Richards so far this season.
