Crystal Palace are reportedly set to challenge Southampton in the chase to sign Spezia defender Martin Erlic.
Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) claims that Roy Hodgson’s men sent scouts to watch Erlic recently, with Southampton having previously done the same in a game against Ascoli previously.
The report goes on to state that Hodgson and Ralph Hasenhuttl see Erlic as a player who can play in the Premier League. Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) went on to compare him to Milan Skriniar in his approach to the game.
Both Southampton and Crystal Palace have been left impressed by the 22-year-old defender, says the report.
Will Southampton signing Erlic be a risky move?
No, he will come good
Let Palace have him
A regular for Spezia
Erlic joined Spezia this past summer from Sassuolo, after having spent the previous season on loan at the Serie B side. He had joined the Neroverdi from Parma back in the summer of 2015.
This season, Erlic has made 14 Serie B appearances for Spezia and only became more of a regular after playing just five minutes of the opening 12 games of the season. He didn’t make a single first-team appearance for Sassuolo during his time at the Mapei Stadium.
TIF Tactics
As per Soccerment (subscription required), Erlic has made 3.9 clearances per 90 minutes this season while also winning 2.1 aerial duels per 90 minutes for Spezia. He has a passing accuracy of 84.6%, while coming up with 44.7 accurate passes per 90 minutes. He also has a high tackling accuracy of 89%, which is well more than the average of 64.1% for a centre-back.
This shows that he might turn out to be a diamond in the rough for a club. But since he’s not played in Serie A even once in his career, he could be a risk for a Premier League club to take on. It all depends on whether Southampton or Palace are willing to take this risk.