Crystal Palace made a dismal start to the 2016/17 season, losing their opening 7 games without scoring a single goal in the process. Then manager Frank De Boer was immediately sacked and the much experienced Roy Hodgson was installed to lure the team away from the relegation zone.
A drop to the Championship was a major concern at first, but with the Hodgson’s management skills and Wilfried Zaha’s red-hot form, Palace were able to steer clear of their biggest nightmare. Zaha scored 9 goals in the league, helping the Eagles finish 11th with 44 points in total.
It was certainly a close one for Roy Hodgson and his boys, but their efforts eventually paid off. The only objective given to the manager was to avoid the drop, and the English coach did that admirably. Hodgson is the kind of manager who any team would hire to help them stay up in the league, he’s a specialist when it comes rescuing ailing teams.
The Eagles conceded a total of 55 goals in the league last season, meaning strengthening the defence in the summer will be the priority for Hodgson. 28-year-old Japanese right-back Hiroki Sakai, who plies his trade in France with Marseille, has emerged as a target for Palace.
The Eagles boss is in the market for a right-back and was keen on Fulham’s Ryan Fredericks before he joined West Ham on a four-year deal earlier in the week. Marseille rate the right-back at £12m, with Sevilla, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Napoli also interested in him.
The 28-year-old signed a new deal last October and has three years remaining on a £50,000-a-week deal. He is thought to be happy at Marseille but it is believed they are willing to let him move. With Joel Ward’s contract set to expire at the end of this month, signing a replacement is of utmost importance.
He made 30 appearances in Ligue 1 last season, averaging 2 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game. He has a respectable passing range and good ability to hold onto the ball under pressure. The right-back is also capable of playing in the wing-back role, which would boost Place’s attacking prospects as well, with Patrick Van Aanholt already being a huge favourite at the club.
He also has European experience, representing Marseille in the Europa League last season. Sakai would also significantly boost Palace’s popularity in Asia. He would also become the eighth Japanese player to feature in the Premier League, after Junichi Inamoto, Shinji Kagawa, Ryo Miyaichi, Hidetoshi Nakata, Shinji Okazaki, Kazuyuki Toda and Maya Yoshida.
