It is looking more and more likely that Crystal Palace will have to dip into the transfer market to sign a new right-back this summer.
According to Sky Sports, the south London club have agreed a £50m fee with Manchester United over the potential sale of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and his departure would obviously leave Roy Hodgson light in that department, with only Joel Ward an experienced option.
But just who exactly could the Crystal Palace boss turn to? Well if The Times are to be believed, then Tottenham’s Kyle Walker-Peters may end up being one option he considers this transfer window.
The outlet reports that Tottenham could look to offload Walker-Peters to Crystal Palace despite seemingly failing in their own attempts to land Wan-Bissaka in a cash plus player deal involving the 22-year-old. And all things considered, the Eagles could do a lot worse.
Having to compete against both Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier for a first-team place, Walker-Peters has not been afforded too many chances in north London, making just 11 appearances last season. Still, Walker-Peters is a player Mauricio Pochettino thinks highly of.
“I told you after the match in Barcelona that we really believe in him and he has amazing quality and only needs time to mature and show his quality,” the Spurs boss said back in December when discussing the England U21 international (as per Evening Standard).
How, though, does Walker-Peters match-up to the man he could be replacing? Well, defensively, Wan-Bissaka looks the more efficient defender in 1v1s. Last season in the Premier League, he averaged 3.7 tackles per game compared to Walker-Peters’ 1.2 (as per WhoScored).
However, in attack, stats point towards the latter being the better option. His 1.2 key passes per game and 0.7 crosses trump Wan-Bissaka’s 0.4 and 0.3, which could really help add something to the Eagles going forward. Averaging just 46.6% possession last season, perhaps a move for someone with a more attacking mindset could help the club develop a more expansive game after largely building a solid base and a counter-attacking system in recent years, with Richard Foster of the Guardian writing at length about such a tactic and why that helps them away from home.
When you consider all of that, Walker-Peters is surely not a terrible option for Hodgson and Palace this summer.
Crystal Palace fans, would you like to see Walker-Peters at Selhurst Park in the summer? Let us know in the comment section below!
