This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Evening Standard, Crystal Palace have struck a deal with Australian bank Macquarie that will see their £22.5m instalment from Manchester United arrive now, rather than in nine months time.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the Eagles have decided to do business with Macquarie in order to get an advance on some of the money earned through the £50m sale of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United.
United paid part of the fee upfront, and are due to pay another £22.5m on July 1st 2020 – that money has now been paid to Palace by Macquarie, and the Australian bank will simply take the payment from the Red Devils nine months from now.
The Evening Standard also report that the money will help Eagles chief Steve Parish make progress in his three-year plan for the club, involving the £100m redevelopment of the main stand at Selhurst Park.
The report continues that the stadium and the academy will take precedence, and it is ‘unlikely’ that the funds will be used to help Roy Hodgson in the January transfer window.
Parish is making a mistake
With the south Londoners so desperate for a goalscorer, it does feel as if Parish is making a mistake with his intentions for the Wan-Bissaka money – especially given the reported valuations of two Palace transfer targets.
Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi – who scored five goals in nine Premier League starts while on loan with the Eagles last season – is wanted by Palace permanently, and The Express report that the Blues want £22m for the Belgian.
Additionally, Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos, another reported target for the club, has been scouted by Sporting Director Dougie Freedman with a view to a £20m move.
Palace have been handed a £22.5m cash injection thanks to their deal with Macquarie. All but £2.5m of that could potentially be spent on Morelos – a man who scored 30 goals last season – whilst all but £500,000 of it could be spent on a proven goalscorer in Batshuayi.
The Eagles have scored just eight goals in nine league games this season, the second-least in the Premier League.
One can’t help but think Parish should be investing the cash in one of these two proven goalscorers to help ease his side’s main problem.
After all, why speed up the process of getting the funds just to dedicate them to a long-term issue over a short-term one?
