This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Fotospor, Crystal Palace attempted to use Christian Benteke as bait in order to get Alexander Sorloth back to Selhurst Park early, rather than wait for his two-year loan spell to end.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the 22-cap Norway international joined Turkish outfit Trabzonspor on a two-year loan deal back in the summer, and has been in excellent form since arriving at the Super Lig side.
Sorloth has netted nine goals while also grabbing four assists in 20 outings for Trabzonspor, who also have former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge in their ranks.
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The report from Fotospor states that Trabzonspor have a €6m (£5.1m) option to buy Sorloth permanently, although the south Londoners wanted him back home safely in SE25 and were willing to offer Benteke in order to make that happen – Trabzonspor officials did not accept this proposal.
Would’ve been lunacy
The mere fact that Palace even thought of this deal, let alone putting it to Trabzonspor chiefs, is downright crazy.
Yes, Sorloth is doing well in Turkey, but former Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse is currently the Super Lig top scorer while the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Sofiane Feghouli, Cameron Jerome and Stephane Sessegnon are all still knocking around in the division – it’s safe to say that the Super Lig really isn’t a top-quality league.
Benteke may have struggled in recent years, but even in his toughest times he has looked more likely to produce something than Sorloth has in a red and blue shirt – the Norwegian failed to score or assist in 16 Premier League outings for the Eagles.
The Belgian is a proven Premier League option with 70 goals to his name across his top-flight career in England, and proved with his cameo performance against Liverpool last time out that he can still be of some use – Benteke was instrumental in Wilfried Zaha’s goal.
To even think about offering a £27m striker in order to get a goalless forward back from his loan spell early is madness – Steve Parish should be thanking his lucky stars that Trabzonspor rejected the offer.
In other news, Crystal Palace fans have reacted to a transfer target’s goalscoring display from the weekend…
