When Crystal Palace added Emmanuel Adebayor last January, it hoped that it had found the talisman that could turn Yannick Bolasie and Yohan Cabaye passes into sheer gold.
But Adebayor, like Connor Wickham before him, wasn’t able to do the trick.
And now Palace may have an excellent upgrade coming in the form of Belgian striker Christian Benteke.
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The 25-year-old striker wants to play, and Liverpool has already rejected one bid for him. But Palace is said to be willing to make another bid that would rise to $41 million if all bonuses are met.
Liverpool would almost certainly accept that bid, knowing it stands a chance to recoup most of what it spent to land Benteke from Aston Villa one year ago. Benteke scored 23 goals in his first full season at Villa, but hasn’t scored more than 15 in any of three seasons since.
That said, Palace would’ve been thrilled to have a 15-goal scorer in any of its three seasons since returning to the Premier League. Dwight Gayle, now at Newcastle, led the Eagles in scoring with 8, 10, and 7 goals in the past three years, respectively.
Jurgen Klopp is rarely going to play the sort of style that benefits a big hold-up man like Benteke, and could take two or even three risks on strikers with the money coming back for the Belgian. This one should happen for both sides.
