Roy Hodgson has confirmed Crystal Palace are pursuing a loan deal for Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke.
Solanke, who hasn’t played a single minute of football for Liverpool’s first team so far this season, has been linked with a number of teams ahead of the January transfer window.
Has Solanke been shut out at Liverpool? Five things to know…
- Solanke, 21, joined Liverpool from Chelsea in the summer of 2017 after finding his path to the first-team blocked at Stamford Bridge.
- The striker made 21 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool last season but scored just one goal.
- This term, Solanke is yet to play for Liverpool at all, raising questions about his future at the club.
- In November, Jurgen Klopp said he will make a decision on Solanke’s future eventually.
- The German said: “We will see what happens. But we want to help Dom so he can help us. That’s the target.”
Solanke’s situation has not changed since Klopp last commented on his future in November. Since then, the 21-year-old has been heavily linked with a loan move to either Palace or Huddersfield Town – and Hodgson has now confirmed Palace’s interest.
“First of all we’ve got to try and make certain we do get him here on loan,” Hodgson said after Palace’s 1-0 home to defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, according to the London Evening Standard.
“If [Palace chairman] Steve [Parish] has mentioned that then it’s obviously not a secret that he’s a target of ours, someone we’d like to have.
“What would he do for us? Well, he’d provide the attacking threat that a good centre-forward should provide. He’s very much a proven goalscorer through all the age groups at Chelsea and with England.
“If he comes here he’ll have a great opportunity to show he can transfer that to Premier League football. We have someone who is the profile we’re looking for and has the ability we’re looking for which, once again today, I thought we were lacking.”
Would Solanke solve Palace’s striker problem?
Palace have had serious issues at centre-forward all season, with Christian Benteke, Alexander Sorloth and Connor Wickham failing to score a single league goal between them.
Hodgson has resorted to playing Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend together up front, but Palace still require a dedicated striker to play through the middle.
The former England boss doesn’t believe Solanke’s lack of minutes for Liverpool says anything about his ability to succeed at Selhurt Park.
Hodgson added: “We know him better from the England days than at Liverpool. At the time when he went there, I thought it was a very good signing from their point of view.
“He has been kept out of the team but he has been kept out of the team by some very strong players. It would take some player to knock them off their perch. I don’t think it’s a particular negative in relation to him that unfortunately, he has not been able to do so.”
The post Hodgson confirms Palace want Liverpool’s Solanke on loan appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka NewsSquawka News http://bit.ly/2s3m8OC
No comments:
Post a Comment