Crystal Palace are one of the clubs showing a ‘keen interest’ in Queens Park Rangers frontman Lyndon Dykes, according to TEAMtalk.
The lowdown
With nearly a third of the January transfer window gone, Palace are yet to do any business at first team level in terms of incomings or outgoings.
Fans may not have expected a striker to be pursued given that the club already have Christian Benteke, Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta on their books. Indeed, it was only last summer that Palace made the second of those the sixth-most expensive signing in their history, parting with £14.67m to bring him in from Celtic.
What’s more, goalscoring hasn’t really been a problem for Patrick Vieira’s side. They’ve bagged 29 so far in the Premier League, the eighth-most of any team in the division, and they have outperformed their xG of 27.92 (via Understat).
However, Dykes could perhaps be viewed as a replacement for Mateta if Saint-Etienne are successful in their attempts to land the Frenchman.
The latest
Palace are named among a host of clubs who could make a move for Dykes in a report by TEAMtalk, but they are far from alone in shooting admiring glances towards the QPR predator.
The Eagles face Premier League competition from relegation-threatened trio Newcastle United, Norwich City and Burnley, while there’s also interest from reigning Scottish champions Rangers and Championship leaders Bournemouth.
The verdict
Dykes has scored 18 goals and provided seven assists since the start of last season and looks like he could a reasonably good option for Palace. Indeed, his former Livingston manager David Martindale said that the 26-year-old has “got all the attributes” of a quality centre-forward.
There are some question marks, though. For instance, he looks to be fairly similar to Benteke – both players excel in the air and like to attempt flick-ons for team-mates (via WhoScored) – so he might not offer something much different to the Belgian.
He can also be a frustrating player. At last summer’s European Championships, the Scotland striker posted a passing success rate of just 44.7%, the second lowest of any player who started a group stage match.
All in all, Palace fans shouldn’t be too disappointed if the Dykes rumours lead to nothing, for he doesn’t appear to be someone who would greatly raise the level of Vieira’s squad, or fix any glaring problem at Selhurst Park.
In other news, could this be another striker option for Palace?