Palace endured a nightmarish start to their previous season in the Premier League. Manager Frank De Boer was immediately sacked and the Eagles quickly appointed the experienced Roy Hodgson as his successor. Under his guidance, Palace finished in the 11th place, retaining their spot in the top-flight for the next season as well.
One of the few Palace players that turned heads last season was left-back Patrick Van Aanholt. He enjoyed a successful campaign with the Eagles, making 28 appearances and scoring 5 goals. The 27-year-old Dutch defender’s efforts have led Italian champions Juventus to take an interest in the player. The club are reportedly seeking to sign Van Aanholt, after realizing they could lose fellow Alex Sandro to Manchester United.
A move to Juventus would see the Dutchman win trophies as well as play in the Champions League. Here, we take a look at two players Crystal Palace could sign to replace Van Aanholt.
Barry Douglas (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
The Scottish defender enjoyed a superb campaign for the Wolves last season. Douglas made a total of 39 appearances in the league, scoring 5 goals and providing 14 assists in the process. In fact, he was the highest assist-provider in the league, which is truly exceptional considering his position.
At the age of 28, the left-back is finally showing signs of reaching his full potential and he could take the Premier League by storm next season. If Van Aanholt does decide to make the move to the Serie A, Douglas would certainly be the ideal replacement.
He offers a lot more while going forward than Van Aanholt. And in many ways, it would be more of an upgrade rather than a replacement. The defender also boasts a higher pass success rate than that of the Dutchman. He averaged around 1.8 key passes per game in the Championship, while Van Aanholt only averaged 0.6 key passes. Thus, signing Douglas would certainly emerge as great deal for the Eagles.
Alberto Moreno (Liverpool)
The Liverpool left-back has fallen down the pecking order since the emergence of Andy Robertson. He started the previous season in a decent manner but an injury saw Robertson take his place and unfortunately make it his own.
Moreno was then used as a substitute for the rest of the season, only being started to provide Robertson with some rest. The Spaniard made just 8 appearances, providing a total of 3 assists. However, he possesses a natural goal-threat and is quite comfortable while making marauding runs down the wing.
His time at Merseyside seems to have come to an end with the likes of Joe Gomez and Robertson around. A move to the Eagles could help the left-back reignite his career and receive regular game time.
