Eberechi Eze has now finally departed Crystal Palace.
It had been a long time coming, but instead of the former Eagles number 10 pulling on the white of Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, he will be lining up in Arsenal’s famous red and white instead, as a last-minute detour across North London occurred to link up with Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.
Palace won’t want to dwell for too long on Eze’s star quality now being missing from Selhurst Park, with a healthy £67.5m in the Eagles’ bank account off the back of this much-talked-about sale, which will hopefully be put to good use before deadline day comes around.
Already, it seems as if Oliver Glasner’s side are eyeing up some ambitious moves, which could include a former midfield ace returning to East London.
Crystal Palace consider ambitious late move
Palace have money to burn, but not a lot of time to shell out significant amounts on an Eze replacement.
The window slams shut next Monday, with the Eagles reportedly setting their sights on a last-ditch move for Villarreal attacker Yeremy Pino, who coincidentally has a £67m release clause at the Yellow Submarine.
He isn’t the only costly midfield addition up for consideration, however, with an ambitious move to bring former loan sensation Conor Gallagher back to Palace in the works.
That’s what Eagles report Bobby Manzi has revealed, with the report stating that Glasner and Co. are weighing up another loan deal for the former Chelsea man, who has struggled for gametime during the infancy of the new La Liga season after trading London for Madrid in a £42m deal a year ago.
Such a lack of gametime means that the Englishman is open to heading back to Selhurst Park in the remaining days of the window.
He could well be the ‘talismanic’ replacement needed to fill Eze’s void, as the News Shopper have further stated.
How Gallagher is like both Wharton & Eze
Not only would Gallagher provide a helping hand in replacing some of the qualities that Eze has left behind, but the England international evokes qualities of another Eagles star.
Indeed, also possesses the same grit and energy of Adam Wharton’s varied game donning Palace’s distinct claret and blue, which makes a last-gasp deal for the 25-year-old to return to his former happy hunting ground even more of a must to seal.
Of course, when Gallagher was pulling on his new Palace strip during a brief loan stint away from Chelsea, he was desperately eager to make a name for himself as a rising gem.
At just 21, the wide-eyed midfielder certainly lived up to his hype, leading to eight goals and five assists coming his way from 39 Eagles outings.
Funnily enough, Wharton is making similar waves today in the senior set-up, at the same age when Gallagher first started coming onto Premier League fans ‘ radars far and wide for his entertaining showings at Palace.
The ex-Blackburn Rovers talent might well still be searching for a strike to break his duck at Selhurst Park, but he does boast one more assist than Gallagher from his 47 appearances, on top of also offering far more than just goals and assists when winning 4.9 duels per match during his debut Premier League campaign.
A far rawer version of the midfielder target won a heftier 5.9 duels per game during his only top-flight season to date for the Eagles – with then Palace manager Patrick Vieira even heralding how much he “sacrifices” himself for the team – before refining this edge to his game even more under the attritional approach of Diego Simeone at Atletico.
Games played
136
Goals scored
18
Assists
13
Completed passes
4678 (86%)
Total tackles
281
Duels won
731
He has further proven himself away from that memorable stay at Selhurst Park in the tough terrain of the Premier League with Chelsea, as seen in his healthy tally of 18 goals and 13 assists next to his name from 136 top-flight appearances.
Like Gallagher, Eze has more than proven he knows where the goal is, bagging 34 goals and 23 assists himself from 147 top-flight clashes. Thus, Gallagher will be hopeful his own total can rise to the levels of his £67.5m counterpart if he can be equal parts gritty and attack-minded under Glasner’s wing.
It will be intriguing to see where the Austrian does slot Gallagher into his line-ups if he joins, as he tries to get both sides of the “sensational” star’s well-rounded game – as he’s been previously lauded by football journalist John Cross – to come to the forefront.
Whatever does happen, it’s certain that the 25-year-old will relish a chance to return to the Premier League with his former loan employers, as Glasner and Co try to navigate their reality now with Eze missing.