Defoe is the ideal short-term candidate to solve Crystal Palace's striking woes
It is no secret that Crystal Palace need an out and out striker who can get them goals and Roy Hodgson has identified Jermain Defoe as the man he wants to do exactly that, according to the Sun.
Defoe has played just 22 Premier League minutes for Bournemouth this season and that has apparently attracted the attention of Hodgson, who took the hitman to Euro 2012 during his reign as England manager.
The 36-year-old reportedly has admirers in the Championship, but Palace will feel confident of blowing them out of the water financially.
And they will need to; the Sun quote Defoe’s weekly wage as £65,000 per week. But relegation from the Premier League would be much more costly and Palace could be transformed by the presence of an experienced hitman.
(YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)
The rest of Palace’s squad is good enough to get them into the top half, but at present, their attacking threat isn’t good enough and it is forcing Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend to play out of position up front.
Those two back out wide would create enough chances for Defoe to snap up and the London-born striker is experienced enough to hit the ground running.
Defoe is used to shouldering a struggling side’s goalscoring burden alone; he did exactly that for Sunderland. As a short term option, Hodgson won’t get anyone better this January.
