Dan Cook has been speaking on the latest HLTCO podcast about links suggesting Crystal Palace want to sign Will Hughes.
The Watford midfielder has not featured in the opening two games of the Premier League season as talk of him leaving Vicarage Road refuses to go away.
If he was to join Palace, it would bring an end to his four-season stint with the Hornets, with journalist Alan Nixon confirming that the Eagles are getting closer to signing Hughes.
Will Palace get relegated this season?
Yes
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During Palace’s opening two league games, they have failed to score having faced Chelsea and Brentford so far, and with the latter being at home and finishing 0-0 against a promoted side, Patrick Vieira may be looking to add more creativity and spark in the final third, especially with Eberechi Eze still sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Cook gave his thoughts on a potential move for Hughes.
“The line coming from Alan Nixon is that there is a deal worth up to £10 million that is being put on the table by Crystal Palace. I’m not sure about the initial fee, but it’s probably somewhere between six and seven million pounds with add-ons factored in.
“I’m not necessarily saying that Will Hughes is the answer to all of our problems, but he’s certainly a good technical footballer and someone that can provide that link between the midfielders and the frontmen.
“I think if you look at our performance against Brentford last weekend, there was plenty of endeavour and of course, Conor Gallagher was a huge asset to us in terms of the energy and the dynamism that he offered in the middle.
“But if you can have another man linking the play – of course, we’ve got [Michael] Olise and Eze to come back as well from injury, but in the immediate period, then you should be able to create enough chances for the frontmen to score goals.”
TIF Thoughts on Hughes potentially joining Palace…
Hughes has featured in the Premier League for three seasons and all of them were with Watford, but he was less than impressive if Vieira is wanting to sign him as a creative spark in midfield.
The 26-year old only managed a high of 0.45 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, and that was back during the 2017/18 season, with his numbers decreasing every season in the top flight since then (as per FBRef).
The midfielder is set to be out of contract next summer, which may be why Watford are willing to see him leave this summer, with Palace seemingly edging ever closer to landing the contract rebel.