Crystal Palace face competition from two Premier League rivals, Burnley and Brighton, to sign Nottingham Forest centre-back Joe Worrall.
Crystal Palace were probably confident that the centre of defence was one area of their squad which did not need reinforcing during the January transfer window.
That was before the influential Scott Dann was ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious ligament injury. The long-serving centre-back, whose excellent goal tally makes him a real asset in either box, has joined club-record signing Mamadou Sakho on the sidelines.
Therefore, it seems as if Crystal Palace will be forced into the market for a new defender. And according to The Daily Mail, they have joined Burnley and Brighton in the chase for Nottingham Forest youngster Joe Worrall.
The 20-year-old is one of the most highly-rated defensive prospects outside the Premier League and, according to the Sun, Forest would demand £12 million to tempt them into a January sale.
Yet Palace should not see Worrall as a short-term fix but an investment for the future. Dann, after all, is 30 these days, ten years older than the Forest man mountain. And fellow Eagles stopper Damien Delaney is even closer to the end of his career at the age of 36.
So Palace could do with perhaps reducing the average age of their defence and the addition of Worrall would offer just this.
It is difficult to see the England youth star, who lifted the Toulon Tournament trophy as captain last summer, displacing Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy at Brighton or James Tarkowski and Ben Mee at Burnley.
But with Palace missing Dann and Sakho, a place in Roy Hodgson’s starting XI beckons.
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