Opinion: Crystal Palace should swoop for Joel Matip amidst Mamadou Sakho doubts
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A Spor reported last week that Liverpool defender Joel Matip has emerged as a January target for Claudio Ranieri as he takes the Fulham helm. However, amidst rumours that Mamadou Sakho could leave in search of Champions League football, Crystal Palace should be the first on the phone in January for the behemoth.
What’s the word?
Well, since Slavisa Jokanovic’s sacking and Ranieri’s appointment as his successor at Craven Cottage, the rumour mill has whirred into life once more as reports of who might be the Italian’s first signing make the rounds.
Apparently, Cameroonian Matip is high up on the former Leicester chief’s wish-list as he looks to shore up a Cottagers defence that has already shipped 31 goals in just 12 games, which has seen to their rooting to the very bottom of the table.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are suffering in the same ways in which they did in the first half of last season as they struggle to find the net on a consistent basis – the Croydon-based side are yet to score from open play at home this campaign.
At the other end of the pitch, however, the Selhurst Park outfit have a fairly steady back four of which James Tomkins and Frenchman Sakho are the heart of, but that could be under threat as the latter recently revealed his Champions League aspirations.
Roy Hodgson should prepare for the worst by making an enquiry about the in-demand Matip.
Matip in, Mama out
The former Schalke man has slipped to the bottom of the pecking order at Anfield – below Virgil van Dijk, Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez – and will surely feel that he is better than a fourth-choice option.
The 27-year-old has proven his quality in the Premier League having made 73 appearances for the Merseyside outfit since his arrival in summer 2016, scoring three goals and, at 6ft 5in tall, the centre-back is a force to be reckoned with in the air.
Equally capable with his feet, WhoScored lists the 27-capped international’s passing as ‘very strong’, meaning that he is extremely reliable playing out from the back and will hit a target man with ease – a quality which Palace’s style of play would benefit greatly from.
The 2012/13 Championship play-off winners are no strangers to a signing from the Reds – they have secured the services of Christian Benteke and Sakho in recent years – but, as the Champions League runners up fight on multiple fronts to win a trophy, they may ask for a higher sum than Transfermarkt’s valuation of £19.8m as Jurgen Klopp rotates his squad to protect key players.
Check out the harsh words the Playmaker FC squad had to say about Wayne Rooney’s England career in the video below