Crystal Palace keen on £20m “super talent” who could replace Ayew

Crystal Palace have had a mixed 2023/24 season so far; they have enjoyed some brilliant results in the Premier League, such as the draw away to Manchester City and win away to Manchester United, but they have also endured some tough results, like being dumped out of the FA Cup by Everton this week.

The team seem as if they are stuck in midtable limbo, with no immediate danger of relegation nor any semblance of a charge up the table.

While the players who have helped establish Palace as a stable top-flight side deserve recognition, it might be time to move some of them on, especially in the case of Jordan Ayew.

It would appear as if Roy Hodgson and the board share that sentiment, as one of the latest players touted for a move to Selhurst Park could be the perfect man to take the Ghanaian’s mantle.

Crystal Palace turn to the Championship

According to reports from the Standard last week, Crystal Palace are one of several Premier League clubs interested in signing Sunderland’s dynamic attacker Jack Clarke this month.

The report has revealed that, alongside the Eagles, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur youngster has attracted attention from West Ham United, Brentford and two other unnamed Premier League sides.

The 23-year-old gem has already scored 13 goals and provided two assists in the championship this season, so the Black Cats are understandably reluctant to sell him in January.

However, the Standard claims that an offer in the region of £20m would be enough to turn heads at the Stadium of Light, which, if true, seems like a bargain too good to pass up on for Palace and the perfect opportunity to phase out Ayew.

How Jack Clarke compares to Jordan Ayew

The first thing to note is that while Ayew has never really been a prolific goalscorer for the Eagles, he has been a reliable performer in the 195 games he has pulled on that red and blue shirt.

However, with the South Londoners looking to push on and go beyond being just another midtable team, there isn’t space for a 32-year-old forward who doesn’t score many goals nor provide many assists, which is precisely where Clarke comes in.

The York-born dynamo is young, energetic, full of promise, and best of all, he has been proving his footballing worth in the Championship for the last couple of years – and he has scored some cracking goals along the way.

It isn’t just his goals and assists that make him the “super talent” former manager Tony Mowbray dubbed him, but his underlying numbers as well, and it is with those that his superiority of Ayew is impossible to ignore.

For example, in almost every single important attacking metric, the English “diamond”, as described by Mowbray, comes out ahead of the Palace man, and in some areas such as non-penalty expected goals and assists, progressive carries, progressive passes and shot-creating actions it is by quite some distance.

In fairness, Ayew does come out on top for passing accuracy, but it is by one percentage point and considering Clarke attempts an average of 13 more passes per 90, it isn’t really a victory for the former Swansea City ace.

Ultimately, if Palace want to kick on, climb the table and even fight for European places with any regularity in the future, they will need to upgrade a number of players and bringing Clarke in this month would be a fantastic place to start.