Transfer insider Dean Jones has claimed that Crystal Palace could be the club to turn around the fortunes of Leicester City’s outcast winger Demarai Gray.
According to The Sun, Gray has been linked with a switch to Selhurst Park in recent days.
The 24-year-old has been pushed to one side by Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers this season, making more appearances for the team’s U23 side than the senior team, and with his contract running out this upcoming summer, now is perhaps the ideal time for them to get rid of him before they risk losing him for free in a few months’ time.
And speaking on the latest edition of Touchline Talk, Jones thinks that whilst he might not have been the ideal place in previous years, Selhurst Park might be just what he needs in order to get his career back on track.
He said: “I mean, when you consider Palace potentially having Wilfried Zaha, [Eberechi] Eze and Demarai Gray in the same side, that’s not the kind of thing that Roy Hodgson is normally looking to do, is he? He doesn’t like to have that many players with flair and pace and creativity on the pitch at one time.
“But we’ve seen that Roy Hodgson has changed his thinking a bit this season and he hasn’t been quite as defensive-minded as he has been at other clubs and at other times with Palace. He’s been a little bit looser and hasn’t always worked out for him, but I do think that Palace have shown that they are in the market a bit more for players like Demarai Gray, and I think that under the right guidance, he could very, very quickly become a really important and exciting player again.”
Would Demarai Gray be a good player for Palace to sign?
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TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments about Hodgson and Gray…
Jones is absolutely right when it comes to the change of style from Hodgson. Having been perceived as a manager obsessed with the basics a few years ago, he has slowly started to turn Crystal Palace into a team with a little bit more flair and pace about them, something that Gray has in abundance, having been described as ‘pacy and skilful’ in his bio on the England page.
So you can see where he might be able to fit into the current Eagles side as they look to transform themselves, and despite not putting up the greatest numbers so far in the Premier League, at the age of 24, there is still a chance for him to develop, and in a side that suits his style of play, we might see those numbers bump up.
And with some reports claiming that he’s only available for around £2m, it’s not that much of a gamble for Palace to be making.