Crystal Palace would be a more “ambitious” move for Eddie Howe despite the lure of Scottish giants Celtic, former Eagles owner Simon Jordan has told talkSPORT (13 April, 11am).
On paper, the choice should be straightforward.
On one hand, Howe has a Celtic side that will be playing European football next season and which, until Steven Gerrard’s resurgent Rangers came along, won nine successive league titles north of the border.
On the other, a Crystal Palace side that has only played two continental games in its history – a 4-0 aggregate defeat to Samsunspor in the 1998 Intertoto Cup. A Crystal Palace side that, with all due respect, has become a byword for mid-table mediocrity in England’s top flight.
According to Jordan, however, the money and might of the Premier League not only levels the playing field, it makes Crystal Palace a far more attractive option than the 1967 Kings of Europe for one of the game’s most talented young coaches.
“Celtic is a fabulous football club with a great history and global recognition – in a league that pays broadcasters’ rights equivalent to a bottle top and a pack of gobstoppers,” explains the former Selhurst Park chief.
“If Eddie Howe is going to go to a Crystal Palace that is backed by its American owners, I would suggest the more ambitious move for him would be Crystal Palace.
“If he’s not going to be backed, if he’s going to be asked to tread water, if Wilfried Zaha is going to go and they’re not going to punch a load of money into the club (Howe should look elsewhere).”
The Daily Mail reports Howe, who has held talks over a move to Celtic, is also an option for a Crystal Palace side planning for life after 74-year-old Roy Hodgson.
Whether the low-flying Eagles are willing to back Howe in the transfer market, however, remains to be seen.
Even before the pandemic hit, Palace tended to keep their powder dry in the transfer market, with Ebere Eze their only £10 million-plus signing since 2017.
“The ambitious Crystal Palace, the club who wanted to rattle the top ten and push on for the top six, who were paying £35 million for Christian Benteke, that’s a more ambitious move,” Jordan adds.
“(If Palace aren’t going to invest), Celtic is a bigger football club with real history behind it.”
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