With the Summer 2019/20 transfer window having come to an abrupt halt at 5pm on Thursday, ahead of the start of the new Premier League season, Palace fans will be among the legions of football lovers left disappointed by the business made since the window opened.
Renowned pundit and ex-Arsenal hero Alan Smith seemingly hit Palace’s transfer malaise on the head. Awarding Palace a generous ‘B’ grade, Smith notes the immense boon that retaining Wilfried Zaha for the foreseeable future will yield, whilst placing special attention on the arrival of Gary Cahill and the experience he can add to the team.
Crucially, Smith also writes ‘You do wonder who is going to get their goals though’. This issue appears to be at the heart of Palace’s woes; main strikers Christian Benteke and Jordan Ayew managed a meagre 2 goals between them in the Premier League last season. With this obvious lack of striking firepower, coupled with the failure to secure a promising replacement, Palace will need to ask their forwards to make a major step up.
However, have Palace found their secret weapon in new arrival Victor Camarasa?
The promising Spaniard starred for a struggling Cardiff City that ultimately suffered a relegation-shaped demise at the culmination of last season – ironically confirmed at the hands of a 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace on their home turf. Yet, Camarasa’s 5 goals and 4 assists added a great deal of flair and panache to Cardiff’s game that provided some memorable lifts to a side that almost avoided the infamous drop.
With leading BBC journalist David Ornstein noting Hodgson’s potential intention to play Camarasa as a wide player, this could superficially be labelled as a risk. Camarasa is a natural playmaker and central midfielder – whilst capable on the wing, he is not fully accustomed to the wings. Despite this, his impressive displays for Cardiff nonetheless proved to be decisive in Cardiff’s hopes for survival. Who could forget that wonder free-kick against Leicester?
Ex-Palace boss and contemporary Cardiff manager Neil Warnock was reluctantly happy to give Palace a gleaming reference despite Cardiff’s own ambitions in retaining Camarasa’s services permanently.
Whilst Palace ultimately failed to bring in more striking options and a right-back to replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Camarasa could serve as the shining light ahead of the new season for Palace fans everywhere. With a better standard of players around him, who knows that Camarasa is fully capable of?
