Crystal Palace should reignite their interest in Eliaquim Mangala
According to an earlier report from the Sun last season, Crystal Palace had made a £23 million bid for Manchester City outcast Eliaquim Mangala but a move failed to materialize and the 27-year-old stayed at the Etihad.
Mangala was loaned out to Everton for the second half of last season but he suffered a knee injury and is yet to feature this season after undergoing a knee surgery. However, he is back in full training and has attracted interest from Inter Milan. (h/t Sun)
Mangala, who was a part of France’s squad at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 European Championship, is currently in the final year of his contract which is set to expire next summer.
Reports claim that Wolverhampton Wanderers might be one of the clubs who would be interested in offering the 27-year-old an escape route should he regain full fitness before January.
Mangala made a £31.9 million switch to the Etihad from Porto back in 2014 and has made a total of 79 appearances for the Citizens over the course of five seasons, spending time on loan at Valencia and Everton as well. He was a regular for City in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons but fell out of favour following the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the club. However, he was eligible to receive the Premier League winner’s medal for the 2017-18 season for having made more than four appearances for Manchester City.
Still only 27, Mangala has a lot to offer at the highest level and he is unlikely to be short of offers once his contract runs down. And Crystal Palace should definitely reignite their interest in the Frenchman ahead of the January transfer window.
Standing at 6ft. 2 inches, Mangala is known for his physicality and aerial prowess. He is more than capable of outmuscling his offensive counterparts with his strength, an attribute that allows him to be a dominant figure in the heart of the defence.
Mangala is quite fast and agile for a centre-back of his frame and stature and uses his upper body strength to time his jump to perfection to get his head to the ball before the opposition’s centre-forward.
Granted, Mangala has been a bit inconsistent in his time in the Premier League, letting the team down with occasional moments of mental freezes.
An aggressive defender by nature, Mangala has a tendency to go into dangerous sliding tackles, which has got him into trouble in the past but he gives himself a fair chance of winning the ball. In other words, he is someone who believes in playing a risk-reward percentage game and it has worked in his favour more often than not.
He has received criticism for his lack of tactical awareness and positional sense at the back but his assets outweigh his liabilities as a centre-back.
Meanwhile, the Eagles claimed all three points with a 2-0 win over Burnley this week, putting an end to a miserable home record this season. Roy Hodgson’s men are currently 14th in the Premier League standings and they need to string together a few positive results to move up the table.
Palace have a good defensive record this season, having conceded 17 goals in 14 games and much of that has been down to their stability at the back. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been the revelation of the season so far while James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho have formed a formidable pairing in the heart of the defence.
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Hodgson has Martin Kelly and Scott Dann as reserves for the centre-back position but neither of them has played a significant role so far and Mangala would definitely be an upgrade on them.
He has the experience of playing in the Champions League and the Europa League and that is something that can prove to be handy for the Eagles in the longer run.
That said, Palace should table a bid in January to snap up the out of favour Frenchman.
