Premier League outfit Crystal Palace are reportedly eyeing two strikers from Serie A – Inter Milan’s ‘Gabigol’ and Sassuolo’s Francesco Caputo.
Crystal Palace are prioritising a new striker in January with Inter Milan outcast Gabriel Barbosa and Empoli’s Francesco Caputo on their radar, according to PassioneInter.
It is no real surprise that The Eagles are looking to enhance their forward line. Despite a fine run of form from Jordan Ayew, Christian Benteke still looks a shadow of his former self while Connor Wickham continues to be haunted by ongoing injury problems.
According to Passione Inter, Crystal Palace have turned their attention to Gabriel again, one year after UOL claimed that they had contacted his agent Kia Joorabchian to negotiate a move to Selhurst Park which never came to pass.
The 23-year-old has reclaimed his ‘Gabigol’ moniker while scoring 23 goals in 28 games during a loan spell at Flamengo in his native Brazil. The report claims that Inter will demand at least £26 million, a more than decent return for a striker whose played only 10 games for the club he joined three years ago.
The report adds that Roy Hodgson’s side are also interested in 32-year-old Caputo, a late-blooming fox-in-the-box who has three goals in five games for Sassuolo this season. Caputo, who has spent his entire career in Italy, netted 16 times in 2018/19 to save former club Empoli from relegation.
He would surely cost a lot less than Gabigol but, given that he is in his 30s already and has never played outside of his home country, this feels like a risky move. Palace really can’t afford another ill-fitting centre-forward.
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