Crystal Palace Plan Summer Swoop for Everton Misfit & Former Loanee Cenk Tosun
By Max Cooper
Crystal Palace are considering a move to bring Everton striker Cenk Tosun back to Selhurst Park in the summer after his loan spell was cut short by injury.
The Eagles have struggled to find the net all season, bagging only 26 goals in 29 matches. Roy Hodgson then turned to the out-of-favour Tosun in January, who himself had only scored once this campaign. A recipe for success, then.
The Turkey international seemed an unlikely hero to solve Palace's goalscoring woes - and so it proved, as he notched only once during his two months in London. The Eagles sent Tosun back to Everton after he damaged the cruciate ligaments in his knee, but it appears that he may have done enough to earn himself a return to Hodgson's side. Somehow.
According to Turkish news outlet Fotospor, Palace’s management and ‘technical delegation’ will ‘closely monitor’ Tosun's recovery from the injury, with a view to signing him permanently in the summer transfer window.
The former Besiktas man is aiming towards a return to action in September, although he may possibly be ruled out until as late as November. Tosun's injury woes will come as bad news to the Toffees, who were planning to sell him in the summer in a bid to trim their bloated squad.
In fact, Everton had initially included a clause in the loan deal which allowed Palace to sign the forward permanently at the end of the season, but his injury meant that the move may be scuppered.
But Everton have been handed a lifeline in the form of Palace's diabolical record among their current strikers.
Despite the striker's poor performances since arriving in England, Hodgson believes that he can help the Turkish star to recapture the form which convinced Everton to splash £27m back in 2018. Wow.
A move seems to be good business for all parties, as Palace look to add to their collection of strikers who can't score.