Palace get their Mandada while also bidding for Benteke

It’s been a busy Friday down in South London as Crystal Palace as Alan Pardew has made two additions to his squad and it seems that certainly will not be the end of their transfer business this Summer as the hunt for a top level Striker continues.

After the addition of Andros Townsend in the Morning, the day was only to get busier as the signature of Goalkeeper Steve Mandada from Marseille was confirmed. The 31 year old ends his eight year association with the French club and has signed on a Free Transfer

Palace seem to be well stocked on goalkeepers with both Alex McCarthy and Wayne Hennessy on their books but both at times made costly errors which led to defeat to Mandanda will be bought in to provide competition for the ‘keepers jersey.

With the performances that Hennessy is turning in for Wales though the French international may have his work cut out. After being no.1 for Marseille for so long you would get the feeling that he hasn’t come to South London just to sit on the bench. It looks like quite the selection headache for Pardew.

I bet he wishes he had that problem when it came to selecting strikers. The goals dried up after Christmas as they went four months without a win, a run that nearly saw them dragged into a relegation fight when in November they had aspirations of earning a place in the Europa League.

They nearly did earn that place by virtue of the F.A. Cup route only to lose in the final to Manchester United. That cup run definitely papered over the cracks in a season of two halves and arguably kept Alan Pardew in a job.

But it seems as if Steve Parrish is giving him his full backing with the seasons start just around the corner. Nothing says support more than a chairman opening his chequebook but that also comes with the caveat of these signings need to bring success so the pressure is on Pardew to bring in the right personnel.

He took the gamble of signing Emmanuel Adebayor but that is one that did not pay off. The Togo international was only trusted with  7 appearances and that saw a return of a solitary goal. Therefore it came as no surprise when his short term contract was not extended and he was shown the exit door last month.

Earlier in the week they made a club record £33m bid for Steve Mandada’s former Marseille teammate Belgian international Michy Batshuayi. Although that potential move is unlikely to get out of the starting blocks with Batshuayi harbouring a move to a bigger club with Chelsea looking the favourites to land his signature

That means they have turned their attention to another Belgian. This being Liverpool’s Christian Benteke, Benteke may have raised the ire of Pardew last season after a supposed late dive earned a late penalty for his current employers and allowed Liverpool to leave Selhurst Park with all three points.

But that now seems to be all forgotten as Palace look ready to table a £25m bid for the former Aston Villa man. That would mean a £7m loss on the £32m that Liverpool paid for him but with him seemingly out of favour with Jurgen Klopp they may be well suited to take an offer of that nature otherwise they could have a depreciating asset on their books.

Benteke had only a fringe role in Belgium’s Euro 2016 participation so it’s not as if a string of decent performances has driven up the price or even better for Liverpool created a bidding war. It seems apparent that Benteke will depart this Summer it’s now just a question of where. Perhaps this £25m bid could be beneficial for all parties.