'He was talking': Director suggests 29-year-old nearly joined Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace missed out on Jae-Sung Lee last summer with Mainz director Christian Heidel telling BILD that the Bundesliga ace was in talks with a Premier League side before heading to the MEWA Arena.

The late-blooming 29-year-old is certainly making up for lost time in his first ever European top-flight season.

Lee has impressed in an attacking midfield role at an upwardly-mobile Mainz, scoring his first goal for the club in a hard-fought away win at Arminia Bielefeld at the end of October.

Crystal Palace had been tracking the silky South Korea international long before Patrick Vieira’s appointment, when Lee was still strutting his stuff in the Bundesliga.2 for Holstein Kiel.

The Eagles were linked once again in May, via Kicker.

But Mainz moved quickly to ensure that Lee would be staying in Germany instead.

Why did Crystal Palace miss out on Jae-Sung Lee?

“He was right at the top of the wish list from the beginning,” says Heidel, Mainz’ sporting director.

“When I called Lee’s agent, he was talking to a club from the Premier League.”

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The former J-League star joined Mainz on a free transfer in July when his Holstein Kiel contract expired.

Now, Heidel does not confirm whether Palace were the side in talks. But it is safe to assume they may have been, given that The Eagles were the only Premier League club linked with Lee.

But while Mainz appear to be heading in the right direction under Bo Svensson, how do we judge Vieira’s Palace reign so far?

On the upside, Roy Hodgson’s replacement has done an admirable job transforming one of the Premier League’s least ‘watchable’ sides into an entertaining, enterprising side capable of going toe-to-toe with any team in the division.

Crystal Palace deservedly beat Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, outplayed Liverpool for long spells at Anfield and were seconds away from securing three points on Arsenal’s Emirates turf.

Depth remains an issue, however. The absences of James McArthur and Joachim Andersen have coincided with a run of three successive defeats.

Crystal Palace are looking to add some much-needed competition to their ranks in January with Rangers’ slaloming, ski-slope schemer Joe Aribo among those linked.