Selling Alex McCarthy to Southampton was a big Crystal Palace mistake

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Crystal Palace sold Alex McCarthy to Premier League rivals Southampton for just £4m – now Wolves want him.

Crystal Palace have a new goalkeeper all but secured. According to The Guardian, they agreed a deal to sign Vicente Guaita at the end of this season on a free transfer when his contract at Getafe came to an end.

Throughout the last two seasons, The Eagles have had to rely on the veteran Julien Speroni, the always unconvincing Wayne Hennessey and, for last year at least, the hugely underwhelming Steve Mandanda.

With the lack of a consistent shot-stopper behind them, Palace have continued to look over their shoulder worryingly. So it is interesting to wonder whether they would give more of a chance to Alex McCarthy, if they could turn back the clock.

McCarthy made just seven appearances for Crystal Palace in the 2015/16 before being shunted out to Southampton after just one year for a fee of £4 million, as reported by Sky Sports.

But while Palace continue to rely on Hennessey and Speroni to secure their Premier League safety, McCarthy is in arguably the form of his life on the south coast. The 28-year-old ousted Fraser Forster a few months ago and hasn’t looked back.

McCarthy produced a sensational late salvo to keep Southampton’s survival hopes alive in last week’s 2-1 win against Bournemouth and has not only been linked with a move to newly-promoted Wolves by The Mirror (8.59am) but also a return to the England squad.

Keeping McCarthy might have made Crystal Palace’s fight against the drop a little easier.