Striker Connor Wickham has revealed his intention to return to Crystal Palace at the end of the season.
The forward is currently on loan with Championship side Sheffield Wednesday until the summer.
However, he admitted that he’s expecting to be back with the Eagles for next season. When speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, the 26-year-old said:
I’ve still got a year left at Palace. I think the intention is to go back to Palace. The chairman (Steve Parish) has made that quite clear to me.
So as far as I’m concerned from Crystal Palace’s side this is for me to get the fitness, the development and whatever happens after that is for the future to hold. We’ll see what happens.
READ CRYSTAL PALACE VERDICT
The Englishman only played 90 minutes of football in the Premier League this season (Transfermarkt) so we believe this loan could prove to be helpful in terms of getting the striker back up to speed.
However, we’re more concerned about his form and fitness. The attacker has only scored 11 goals in 50 Palace appearances and since the 2015/16 season, he has missed 96 games through injury.
Therefore, we believe that it is crucial for Wickham to prove his fitness and form during the loan spell for him to have a chance at another opportunity in the first-team at Selhurst Park.
With Cenk Tosun impressing since his arrival from Everton and Roy Hodgson eager to strengthen his squad further when the summer window opens, Wickham may need to impress in the Championship in order to keep himself in Palace’s plans going forward.
