Crystal Palace should raid Man City to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko
It has been a season filled with ups and down for Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace. The Eagles have had very little to cheer about in what has turned out to be yet another campaign of mid-table obscurity.
Palace currently sit 13th in the Premier League standings with 27 points, level on points with Brighton and Burnley and just three points clear of the relegation zone. While they might breathe a sigh of relief for not being further down the table, the Eagles need to put an end to their fight for relegation season after season.
Despite his age, Roy Hodgson has been a fantastic manager for Palace and he showed a tremendous bit of acumen to snap up Max Meyer as a free-agent in the summer. The German came to Selhurst Park with a lot of reputation and promise but he has found it tough to acclimatise to the Premier League and has failed to establish himself as a regular face in the first team.
The long-term injury to centre-forward Christian Benteke left Palace with a massive void to fill up front. Although Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend have done reasonably well, the Eagles have suffered from lack of creativity in the midfield, with Meyer failing to deliver the goods consistently. James MacArthur, Cheikhou Kouyate and Luka Milivojevic have been pretty solid in dictating the tempo and cutting out the attacks but they cannot be termed as creative midfielders who can light up the scene with something special.
Palace did well to bolster their squad with the loan signing of Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea in January but they need to strengthen even further next summer to enhance their chances of a top-ten finish. To be more precise, they need another lively and versatile creative midfielder in their ranks.
To put things into perspective, Palace should make a move for Man City star Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of the upcoming season. The 22-year-old Ukrainian international has played a bit-part role in the first-team at Etihad due to the stiff competition for places and the Eagles should make him a top priority next summer in a bid to add depth and quality to their squad.
Even though he was signed from Russian club Ufa back in the summer of 2016 primarily as an attacking midfielder, Zinchenko has thrived at City as a makeshift left-back in the absence of Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph. He made 14 appearances in his breakout season last term and has registered an equal number of appearances so far this season as well.
Zinchenko is a technically-gifted and tactically-versatile player who is capable of playing as a left-back, wing-back, central midfielder and also in the attacking third as a winger or a No.10. Calm and comfortable in possession, the 22-year-old has a nice skill set to go along with his crisp passing, vision, delicious first-touch and ability to create spaces for his teammates to exploit. Add to that his defensive work rate and he can be a really valuable asset to any team in the Premier League.
Zinchenko has got his chances at City from time to time. Not many youngsters have been able to break into the first-team consistently but Zinchenko, with his versatility, has managed to get a fair crack of the whip. While he can certainly continue his development at City, a move to Selhurst Park might help him realise his true potential with more regular minutes.
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Palace would improve massively with a versatile player like Zinchenko in their ranks and that said, they should make an effort to lure him away from the Etihad ahead of the upcoming season.
