Premier League battlers Crystal Palace were reportedly hoping to sign Roma’s struggling Serie A striker Patrik Schick.
Any hopes that Crystal Palace had of bringing Patrik Schick to Selhurst Park look to have suffered a potentially decisive blow on Thursday.
According to Calciomercato back in November, The Eagles were hoping to sign the struggling Roma striker, who has hardly lived up to lofty expectations since joining Roma in a club-record £18 million deal in the summer of 2017.
Schick has started just 16 Serie A games in the last year-and-a-half, scoring twice for Eusebio Di Francesco’s side.
And with Edin Dzeko firmly established as Roma’s number one centre-forward, it was expected that the Giallorossi would let the 22-year-old leave on loan in order to help him kick-start his career.
But it seems that Palace are set to miss out in the latest disappointment of what has been a frustrating season for Roy Hodgson’s side.
Calciomercato have now reported that Schick has agreed to return to former club Sampdoria, for whom he scored 11 goals in 14 league games during a breakthrough 2016/17 season.
It is understood that Gregoire Defrel, who has shone at Samp since joining on loan from Roma, will return to the Stadio Olimpico ahead of schedule as part of the deal.
Crystal Palace, then, could be forced to look elsewhere for a much-needed centre-forward signing.
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