In January, Crystal Palace were extremely active in the transfer market, but they were still unable to fix the striker dilemma.

The lack of a true centre forward that brings reliability has haunted the Eagles over the years, and it has been one reason why the club has stayed midtable.

Christian Benteke, Odsonne Edouard, and Jean-Phillipe Mateta have all failed to nail down the spot on a full-time basis, with their lack of goals costing the team.

However, a player that Roy Hodgson let go of could have just been the fix if he had been given more time.

Edouard and Mateta's Palace record

The French duo both arrived at the club in the 2021/22 season for a combined fee of around £23m, but neither of them has impressed enough to become the main focal point of the team.

Edouard has played 88 games for Palace, scoring just 20 goals and contributing to five goals, whereas Mateta has played 91, scoring 16 and providing five assists, which is an even worse return.

Usually, a side may put up with a striker’s lack of goals due to the influence they have on other aspects of the performance, but almost all of the positives in the Eagles' attack come from Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze.

This season, the former Mainz player has scored six goals across 24 matches, and he’s on course to have his best season yet. Edouard is actually Palace’s joint top scorer in the league this season with six goals, but four of those came in the first five games of the season.

Palace could then be left to rue the sale of a player who is outperforming both those two men of late…

Alexander Sorloth’s stats since leaving Palace

Alexander Sorloth’s time in London will not be remembered fondly by the individual himself, as he only started four of his 16 Premier League games and never scored in the top flight.

The 28-year-old joined Hodgson’s side for a fee of around £9m in 2018, and despite only scoring once in his 20 appearances for the club, the club were able to sell him to RB Leipzig in 2020 for double what they paid.

Since then, Sorloth has developed into a fairly reliable goal-scorer for all three of his next clubs: Leipzig, Real Sociedad, and now Villarreal, netting 40 goals since his departure from Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace

20

1

1

RB Leipzig

38

6

3

Real Sociedad

90

24

5

Villarreal

25

10

4

The 6 foot 5 number nine has played 25 games across all competitions this season, scoring ten goals and picking up four assists, which proves he has the ability to bring others into the game as well as score. He’s also proved that he can do it on big occasions, as just two weeks ago he scored and set up two goals in Villarreal’s 5-3 win away to Barcelona.

Furthermore, having a striker who can score from nothing is key in the Premier League, and based on the clip above he can certainly provide that.

In truth, Sorloth was never really given a real chance at Palace, despite thriving on loan at Trabzonspor, where he netted 33 goals and provided 11 assists in 49 games, and he is exactly what the side could do with right now to progress.

A frustrating case of what might have been…