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Crystal Palace’s bid for Maxime Gonalons might be an expensive mistake
Reports this week in the have linked Crystal Palace with Roma midfielder Maxime Gonalons, just one season after the Frenchman joined the Italian club from Lyon.
However, after a poor season at the Stadio Olimpico where Gonalons was a bit-part player, Palace would do well to decide against purchasing the 29-year-old and doubling the fee Roma paid for the central midfielder just a year ago.
After a very successful spell at Lyon, where Gonalons made over 300 appearances in eight seasons, the Frenchman moved to Roma in July 2017 for a fee of 5 million euros.
But an underwhelming debut season in Rome followed. The defensive midfielder found himself well behind in the pecking order, with Kevin Strootman, Radja Nainggolan, Daniele de Rossi, and Lorenzo Pellegrini all preferred ahead of the Frenchman.
As a result, Gonalons started just 12 matches in the league all season, failing to make any sort of impact for the Serie A club. And it is telling that after just one year at Roma, the club is already willing to offload the midfielder.
One disappointing aspect of the transfer is that Palace, according to Sky Italy (h/t ) are willing to offer £8.9 million for the player, double what Roma paid for him last summer, coming after an indifferent campaign that would not suggest an increase in his value.
Although a fee of under nine million pounds would not typically be associated with an extravagant outlay, Palace manager Roy Hodgson has spoken publicly about the tightness of transfer funds at Selhurst Park.
To fork out that fee for a 29-year-old defensive midfielder who is coming off a poor season would represent a foolish piece of business for the south Londoners, and Hodgson should target a younger, more promising talent such as Max Meyer.