According to The Mirror, Crystal Palace are planning a January swoop for Australian winger Ajdin Hrustic.
The 22-year-old currently plays for Eredivisie outfit Groningen, but has attracted attention from fellow Premier League competitors Huddersfield.
While the 1-cap international is continuing to impress for the Dutch team, there is one leading reason why Palace should avoid making a move for him this January, and that is his lack of goals. While the ability to score goals isn’t necessarily a necessity for a winger, it certainly helps, and it would be a trait that The Eagles so desperately crave this campaign. No team has scored fewer goals than Palace so far this season, and that is obviously an area that manager Roy Hodgson will be seeking to remedy in January.
However, thus far this season, none of Palace’s recognised strikers Chrstian Benteke, Jordan Ayew or Alexander Sørloth have registered a Premier League goal, and the club have relied primarily on wingers Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend, who have scored half of the team’s league goals between them. Therefore, it is clear that Hrustic would not rival either of these players for a place.
On the other hand, the Australian could still provide strength in depth at the club. But he would nonetheless fail to deliver the key attributes that would help Palace out this season. He would not be a player to rely on for goals in the absence of either Zaha and Townsend, and that would be a problem for Hodgson.
