Premier League outfit Crystal Palace reportedly want to sign Shakhtar Donetsk’s Ukraine international Taras Stepanenko.
The prospect of signing a 30-year-old Ukrainian midfielder is unlikely to get fans flocking to Selhurst Park in the new year. Particularly when you consider that Crystal Palace have been crying out for a striker, or one rather more reliable than Christian Benteke at least, for two years now.
According to The Sun, Shakhtar Donetsk will let the long-serving, trophy-hoarding Taras Stepanenko leave in January and Crystal Palace, after missing out on a potential £8 million deal in the summer, are interested again.
With his cold, dead eyes, his love of a crunching challenge and an alleged background in melee combat, Stepanenko is one of the modern game’s last true ‘hard men’.
Luka Milivojevic, James McArthur, James McCarthy and co are all ball players rather than ball winners but Stepanenko is the sort of deep-lying enforcer who loves nothing more than shuttling around in front of the defence and throwing his body on the line to preserve a clean sheet.
There’s a reason he’s played 54 times for his country while winning 20 trophies, including seven league titles, during almost a decade in the orange and black stripes of Shakhtar.
In fact, while Stepanenko might not share his penchant for a sublime free-kick or an accurate cross-field pass, the Ukrainian enforcer could be Crystal Palace’s most effective, industrious midfielder since Mile Jedinak patrolled the Selhurst Park pitch with the captain’s armband wrapped around his bicep.
Jedinak made Palace such a challenging opponent when he was at his best and Stepanenko could have a similar impact on a side which has looked a little soft centred of late. He produced five tackles and three interceptions during Shakhtar’s Champions League clash against Manchester City last week while keeping it simple with his intelligent, effective distribution, completing 85 per cent of his passes.
His aggression can spill over somewhat, as 110 cards in 367 games attests, but with Stepanenko commanding the midfield battleground, it’s hard to imagine Palace collapsing to a 4-0 defeat to the likes of Tottenham Hotspur.
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