Dan Cook has been speaking about Crystal Palace target Ismaila Sarr and how the Eagles could move for the winger on the HLTCO podcast.
Palace, along with several other clubs, were linked with a move for the Senegalese international over the summer, however, nothing ended up coming to fruition and he’s been turning out in the Championship for the second time in his career.
However, with talk rife about Wilfried Zaha’s future and how it looks to be away from Selhurst Park, reports have suggested that Palace could once again make a move for Sarr next year, something Cook was interested in.
Cook believes that links between Palace and Sarr are ones to keep an eye on heading into the January transfer window and beyond.
(9:00) “I would suggest that the summer is the more likely time for him to leave Watford when there is more clarity over whether or not they’d make it back into the Premier League under Slaven Bilic’s guidance.
Should Palace sign Sarr?
Yes!
No!
“He’s certainly a player to keep an eye on given the fact he’s left-sided, given Wilfried Zaha’s imminent departure to all intents purposes, so the fact we’ve got a previous interest in him.”
TIF Thoughts on links to Sarr…
As Cook highlighted, it would make a lot of sense for Palace to move for Sarr given he could be a natural replacement for Zaha, who has reportedly turned down a new contract at Selhurst Park, and Sarr’s former teammate Ben Foster had called him a ‘freak‘ in the past because of his natural ability, which will excite Palace fans.
However, Sarr wouldn’t likely be a like-for-like replacement given that Zaha boats a far superior record in front of goal with Sarr’s best season in the Premier League being five goals, whereas Zaha has passed that in all but one of his last seven seasons, including the current one.
So while Sarr could be a good signing on paper and if the money is right, it wouldn’t make sense for Palace to put all of their eggs in one basket with the Championship ace to replace Zaha when he does indeed depart.