According to recent reports, Crystal Palace have set an asking price of £8 million for Christian Benteke in an effort to raise funds for a move for Watford’s Ismaila Sarr.
The report by the Daily Mail claims that the Eagles are looking to offload the £120,000-a-week Benteke in order to create funds for the Watford forward, who has been put up for sale by his club for a figure of £40 million.
Sarr, who only joined Watford in a £27 million move from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais last summer, scored five goals and provided four assists over his 28 appearances in the 2019/20 Premier League, averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.71 – ranking him as the club’s sixth-best performer last term.
And, despite reported interest from Premier League champions Liverpool, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers, a report by The Sun states that it is Palace who are leading the race for the £22.05 million-rated Senegal international.
TIF Thoughts…
With Wilfried Zaha being heavily linked with a move away from Selhurst Park once again this summer, it would appear that the club see Sarr as an ideal replacement for the 27-year-old.
And, with Palace said to be keen on bringing the average age of their squad down over the summer transfer market, replacing Zaha with Sarr, in addition to selling the 29-year-old Benteke, would certainly help on this front.
On top of this, while Zaha’s average WhoScored match rating of 6.98 last season was slightly better than Sarr’s, the Palace winger actually contributed to fewer goals and assists for his side – four goals and three assists – in comparison to the Watford man’s returns.
Would you like to see Palace make a £50 million move for Sarr?
Yes
No
As such, it would certainly appear as if the club have found an extremely capable replacement for their current star.