According to Spanish source Estadio Deportivo, Red Bull Salzburg’s Arab-Israeli striker Munas Dabbur is prepared to leave his current club in January.
The same report claims that Dabbur has potential suitors in England and Spain, with Liverpool and Fulham interested in bringing him to the Premier League while Valencia remain the sole La Liga club to be linked.
The 26-year-old not only powered Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian Bundesliga title last season but he also made a big impact on the European stage, establishing himself as one of the driving forces behind his team’s march to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.
Dabbur has also hit the ground running this season, netting 9 times in the league and is currently the top scorer in the Europa League with 6 goals in the group stages.
Going by the numbers, Dabbur has racked up a whopping tally of 55 goals and 21 assists from 110 appearances for Red Bull Salzburg across all competitions since making his move from Swiss club Grasshopper in 2016. In fact, he had an equally impressive record at Grasshopper, accumulating 56 goals and 28 assists from 105 appearances.
Hence, Dabbur might not be a household name in European football but he deserves to have his name right up there with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah as one of the most in-form strikers in the continent.
Standing at just a shade under 6ft., Dabur is a striker with well-rounded attributes who is known for his knack of getting into the right place and at the right time.
Blessed with the attributes of an old-school centre-forward and a dynamic modern-day attacker, Dabbur is primarily a centre-forward by trade but he has also been used as a playmaker in a No. 10 role due to his ability to create goals for his teammates.
While the 26-year-old has the killer instincts, awareness and vigilance of a poacher inside the penalty area, he is equally adept at making runs behind the backline to get on the end of through balls and crosses. Movement off the ball, clinical finishing, quick feet, dribbling skills, passing, vision and decent aerial ability- it might sound overhyped but Munas Dabbur has got all the aforementioned attributes in his repertoire which makes him a wonderful striker at the highest level.
To put things into perspective, he would be a fantastic signing for any top side in the Premier League. With Fulham and Liverpool interested in signing the in-form Israeli international, Crystal Palace should also get themselves in the mix the try to snap him up in January.
The Eagles currently sit 14th in the Premier League standings, just four points clear of Newcastle in the relegation zone. They managed to finish a respectable 11th last season after a brief relegation scare and Roy Hodgson’s men will have to do something similar this term as well.
While they have a good defensive record, scoring goals has been the major issue for Palace this season. The Eagles have scored only 20 goals so far and they will need to improve on that significantly in the second half of the season.
Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend have struggled for consistency this term, with the absence of the main centre-forward Christian Benteke leaving the duo with too much responsibility to shoulder.
Zaha and Townsend have played good direct football but they don’t have the necessary instincts of a poacher to rack up 20 goals in a season. Benteke and Connor Wickham are both back to fitness but they will need time to regain match sharpness, having been out of action for ages.
Jordan Ayew has worked hard without much result while Alexander Sorloth has been loaned out. Hence, they need a top quality striker to help them secure a top-ten finish and Munas Dabbur might be the right man to spearhead the attack for the Eagles in the second half of the season and beyond.