Crystal Palace’s manager Roy Hodgson announces entry of this Turkish player in the playing XI

According to Crystal Palace’s manager Roy Hodgson, Cenk Tosun is all set to get into Club’s playing XI before he was announced as their first signing of the January window

Cenk Tosun was taken on Loan by the Palace from Everton six months ago as the club needed to get players who could add value to the team, hence opted for the Turkish striker. Cenk was on Palace’s radar since 2017, but it was Everton who struck the hammer first.

There are high chances, Tosun would be playing a crucial role in the upcoming match against Arsenal due to various senior players getting injured.

“He’s ready to come in from the start,” said Hodgson. “He’s injury-free and has been training with Everton. If I choose him tomorrow, I don’t have any doubts he’ll be ready for the task.

“As long ago as two years ago now, when we were looking to improve our striking force, Cenk’s name came up and he was heavily scouted.

“There was a serious interest in us signing him. But Everton won the race for his signature, so it’s nice now to have a second bite of the cherry, especially at a time when we are desperately at need in improving our striking force. We feel we know him and what he can do, and the qualities he’ll bring. He could have been a Palace player a lot sooner.”

Palace also has a keen eye on Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi for their forwards, however, Chelsea won’t be releasing him unless they get a decent replacement.

“Things go one at a time,” said the former England manager. “Like a lot of time, we have vacancies in certain positions, areas we’d like to improve. It’s still all hands to the pump in terms of trying to find the right people. But we don’t have the candidates we’d necessarily want. We’ll have to wait and see how the window continues to transpire. Things happen all the time, as Cenk has just shown us.”