This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Athletic’s Dominic Fifield, Crystal Palace saw an attempt to sign Real Sociedad striker Willian Jose knocked back in the summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Fifield reports that Willian Jose was amongst a number of other targets who the Eagles did not manage to capture.
In the end, while there would be further exploration of the availability of (and, ultimately, knockbacks over) the likes of Ruben Aguilar and Reece James, Fedor Chalov and Willian Jose, realisation dawned that there was little to lose and plenty to gain by keeping the manager happy.
Fifield names Monaco’s Ruben Aguilar – a player who Palace probably dodged a bullet with – Chelsea’s Reece James and CSKA Moscow forward Fedor Chalov as the other players who the south Londoners failed to sign.
The 27-year-old – who has 15 caps for Brazil’s Under-20 side – scored 11 goals and recorded five assists in 31 La Liga appearances last season, so you can see why Palace were interested.
However, the form of a current Palace man is helping to soften the blow of losing out on the Brazilian’s signature.
Jordan Ayew is stepping up to the plate
You could argue that Willian Jose has continued his fine form from 2018/19 into the current campaign, having scored three goals in eight La Liga appearances already this term.
However, Jordan Ayew – a man who cost Palace just £2.5m back in the summer – has matched that goal tally in one less league appearance, scoring three in his seven Premier League outings so far this season.
The 55-cap Ghana international has won nine of Palace’s 14 points thanks to his goals alone, strikes that currently have the south Londoners sat in the top six as we enter the international break.
Ayew scored in a 2-1 over Manchester United, while also netting the only goal of the game against Aston Villa.
His most recent strike – an 87th minute winner against West Ham – has seen his fine form continue, and one might assume that no-one residing in SE25 will care much for the inability to sign Willian Jose when their very own No.9 is on such a hot streak.