Crystal Palace has a new forward for its bid to stay top half in the Premier League.
Cenk Tosun will join the Eagles on loan from Everton until the end of the season, the club announced Friday.
Tosun is surplus to requirements with Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the upswing and Everton in just one competition.
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It’s a low-risk, high-reward play for Palace, who hosts Arsenal at 7:30 a.m. ET Saturday (Watch live on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Tosun has a goal and three assists in just 328 minutes across all competitions this year, and has nine goals in around 2300 career PL minutes.
For perspective, Jordan Ayew and Christian Benteke have combined for five PL goals in about 2150 minutes this season.
Manager Roy Hodgson isn’t downplaying the move.
“As long ago as two years now when we were looking to improve our striking force, Cenk’s name came up and he was heavily scouted. We were seriously interested in signing him but Everton won the race for his signature. … We’re adding someone we need to be there and will provide competition and is more than capable of being the first name on the team sheet. No one that we sign this window will be there to pad out the squad.”
Tosun has been a habitual scorer for Gaziantepspor, Besiktas, and the Turkish national team, but hasn’t been able to find top form for Everton. That started with Sam Allardyce‘s haughty appraisal of the signing, and rarely got better under Marco Silva.
There’s reason to believe he can play a big role for Hodgson’s Eagles.
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