Martin Kelly could leave Crystal Palace with his contract expiring this summer – so how about a reunion with Sam Allardyce at Premier League rivals Everton?
Martin Kelly is one of nine Crystal Palace first-team players who could be on their way out of Selhurst Park in the summer as manager Roy Hodgson plans an overhaul of his squad.
The former Liverpool defender is out of contract at the end of this season and despite a number of impressive displays to help the Eagles pull away from the bottom of the table, particularly in the 0-0 draw with Manchester City on New Year’s Eve, there is nothing to suggest yet that Kelly will be tied down to a new deal at Palace.
Despite suffering from a series of injuries throughout his career, the versatile Kelly should not be short of options when he becomes a free agent.
And it will be interesting to see whether his former Palace boss Sam Allardyce is tempted into a reunion at Everton with his own defence a shambles on almost a weekly basis.
Allardyce has famously built his reputation on his ability to drill a well-organised backline, but such skills have been rarely seen at Goodison Park. The Toffees have let in 46 goals in 27 Premier League games, a tally only ‘bettered’ by Huddersfield Town, Watford and Stoke City.
And while Everton have more money than ever thanks to majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, the Merseyside giants have been guilty of overspending of late with big-money deals for Cenk Tosun, Michael Keane and even Gylfi Sigurdsson coming under scrutiny.
Signing Kelly on a free, therefore, would be a low risk deal with potentially high rewards.
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