With the new season now just a matter of days away, many Premier League clubs have been frantically negotiating in order to bring in fresh faces to their playing squads.
The Eagles are no different on this front, with Andros Townsend, Steve Mandanda and James Tomkins all joining the ranks at Selhurst Park during the summer. However, with just under a month remaining until the closure of the transfer window, do Palace’s squad numbers mean that they are still preparing from additional arrivals?
Numbers three, four and eight remain up for grabs, with a number of potential candidates being linked with fulfilling them under manager Alan Pardew. Having finished fifteenth last time around, Palace are outsiders in the football odds to earn a top half finish this this season.
New man Townsend has taken the vacant number seventeen shirt following the departure of Glenn Murray, while having switched East London for South, Tomkins has been handed the number five shirt ahead of the new campaign. French goalkeeper Mandanda will be hoping to oust Wayne Hennessey for the starting position this season, and has chosen his favoured number thirty jersey which he wore throughout his career at Marseille.
With all three set to make big impacts on the Palace first team, Palace are 11/4 in the football odds from bookmakers Coral to finish in the top half of England’s top flight. With a good return on the odds available, backing Pardew’s men could well prove fruitful.
Last season, the numbers three, four and eight were worn by Adrian Mariappa, Brede Hangeland and loanee Patrick Bamford respectively. This has led to speculation surrounding further new signings, with former West Bromwich Albion midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu the latest to be linked with a move from Championship side Norwich City.
Elsewhere, despite reportedly favouring a move to Stoke City, Saido Berahino is 6/1 in the football odds from Coral to end up with Palace by the end of the transfer window. The news that Fraizer Campbell has retained the number nine shirt perhaps ends questions regarding his future. The former Manchester United man has been linked with moves to a whole host of Championship sides, with the twenty-eight year old currently being sidelined by a hamstring injury.
If the striker should choose to stay for another season with Palace, any new forward would likely have to choose from numbers eight, twenty-five or twenty-eight. The news of the possible departure of winger Yannick Bolasie to Everton for a reported £30 million only strengthens the possibility of new signings.
