According to The Sun, Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson is looking to add reinforcements to his backline and ADO Den Haag centre-back Wilfried Kanon has emerged as a January target for the Eagles.
The 25-year-old Ivorian started his professional career in the Romanian top flight with Gloria Bistrita and Corona Brasov, before moving to the Eredivisie with ADO Den Haag in 2013. Since then, he has made a total of 99 appearances for the Dutch outfit, finding the back of the net on two occasions.
Quite clearly, Palace are interested in signing him for his abilities at the back. The Ivorian has earned rave reviews for his solid defensive performances and has established himself as one of the top centre-backs in the Eredivisie.
Kanon was also on Everton’s radar under former manager Sam Allardyce but new manager Marco Silva decided to invest in Barcelona’s centre-back Yerry Mina instead. (h/t The Sun)
Crystal Palace haven’t made a good start to the season under Roy Hodgson and the Eagles currently sit 14th in the standings with only 5 points from their first 8 games. Despite boasting of names like Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend, Max Meyer, Christian Benteke, Jordan Ayew and Luka Milivojevic, the Eagles haven’t managed to string together consistent performances to challenge the other mid-table teams.
Suffice to say, the fans haven’t had much to cheer about in the ongoing season and with the quality of players in their ranks, Palace are capable of doing much better.
Although Hodgson’s men have a poor goalscoring record, the Eagles haven’t shipped out too many goals. In fact, they have one of the best defensive records among the mid-table teams, having conceded only 9 goals so far.
In Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Patrick van Aanholt, Palace have two of the most exciting young full-backs in the Premier League and both of them have contributed equally to the attack and the defence. Mamadou Sakho did not fulfil his potential at Anfield but he has been quite solid at the back this season and hasn’t made many errors. He has established a formidable partnership with the experienced James Tomkins, thus strengthening the defence.
However, Martin Kelly, who was slotted into the backline against Watford, had a torrid time and looked uncomfortable in the heart of the defence. Furthermore, the Eagles will miss the services of the hugely experienced Scott Dann, who has been sidelined due to a long-term knee injury.
Hence, Roy Hodgson could face a potential crisis if one of the two regular centre-backs is sidelined either due to an injury or a suspension. Hence, he should look to bolster his options by adding the highly-rated Ivorian defender.
Standing at 6ft 2 inches with a sinewy frame, the Ivorian beast is capable of dominating the opposition at the back with his undisputed physicality. To go with his upper body strength, he is also a good reader of aerial balls, using it to good effect on both sides of the pitch.
The Ivorian excels with his positional sense and situational awareness as well, often making crucial interceptions to cut out the attacks. The 25-year-old has averaged 1.9 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 3.8 clearances per game this season which speaks volumes of his credentials as a centre-back.
To add to that, he is an aggressive defender by nature and always looks to get to the ball first. However, he is great with his decision-making. As a matter of fact, he is capable of playing in a deep defensive line and is extremely agile for a defender of his stature.
That said, Crystal Palace should make a bid for him in January as he might be available for a cut-price deal despite being contracted to the club till 2022. Going by the kind of performances that he has put in so far, he should be worth the money.