Speaking in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Alan Pardew has told of the moment when he knew that the deal for French midfielder Yohan Cabaye could commence.
The Eagles swooped for the ex-Paris Saint Germain midfielder last summer and the ex-Newcastle United boss highlighted when the deal could take place.
As soon as we got 40 points and were safe, I said to (co-chairman) Steve (Parish): ‘We can get him’.
Another factor that led to the deal happening was the fact that the duo worked together at St James’ Park.
Since signing, Cabaye has been a massive influence in the middle of the park for Palace. Settling back into the Premier League could be a barrier for some, but the Frenchman has adapted to his return well.
But I knew we would really have to make it clear to PSG and Yohan that we were coming for him. We started to do that from April.
I don’t want to be disrespectful to PSG, because we could do business with them again soon, but I think their first response was like: ‘Hey, come on – this is Yohan Cabaye’. But we gained their trust that we could do the deal.
In the campaign so far, the 29-year-old has scored three goals, two from penalties, alongside creating 10 chances.
The midfielder’s shot accuracy is 54%, alongside a passing accuracy of 84%.
Pardew’s Palace are comfortably sitting in fourth place in the Premier League table and host West Ham at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
