Premier League duo Crystal Palace and Everton considered signing Cheick Diabate on a free but he headed to Serie A with Benevento instead.
Benevento are bottom of Serie A by some distance and their stay in the top flight of Italian football looks set to be a short one.
In 31 games, The Witches have magicked up a tally of 13 points in 31 games. With just seven fixtures remaining, they are 14 points adrift of safety and it would take some rather substantial witchcraft to pull off this survival act.
But at least Cheick Diabate has given the fans something to cheer. And the remarkable form of this Malian centre-forward should have Everton and Crystal Palace wondering why they did not take the chance to sign him on a free.
The Sun claimed in October that the Premier League duo were both looking at Diabate, who was without a club despite netting eight times in 14 games to save Metz from relegation out of Ligue 1 in the second half of last season.
A move to the Premier League passed the 29-year-old by but he has been in inspired form for Benevento. He has five goals in five games and 195 minutes for the bottom club, two more than anyone else in the squad has managed all season. Diabate even struck twice during Benevento’s gallant 4-2 defeat to Juventus at the weekend.
When you consider just how toothless Everton were in the stalemate with Liverpool on Saturday, and how bad Christian Benteke has been at Crystal Palace this season, it’s tempting to wonder what sort of impact Diabate could have had at Goodison or Selhurst Park.
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