Crystal Palace have completed their first signing of the summer transfer window in the form of midfielder Yohan Cabaye from Ligue 1 team Paris Saint Germain. The deal has gone down as a record signing for the club, with the Frenchman being secured for £10 million, the move will be finalised subject to international clearance.
This signing is a step in the right direction for Palace as they look to build on the form that saw them finish 2014-15 in the top-half of the table. Cabaye has already shown he has the ability to play in the Premier League after spending three seasons at Newcastle United from 2011-2014, scoring 18 times in 93 appearance during the time under now Palace manager Alan Pardew, before being sold to PSG for £20 million in January 2014. He also brings international experience to the club, having recorded 34 caps for his country and being selected into the squads for the 2012 Euro and 2014 World Cup, scoring three times in those 34 matches for France.
Palace chairman Steve Parish was extremely excited by the prospect of having Cabaye playing for the Club.
“It’s a fantastic moment for the club, I’ve got to pinch myself! I never imagined that Yohan Cabaye would come to Crystal Palace, but that’s how far we’ve come in such a short space of time,” Parish said.
“I think the fans are going to absolutely love this lad, whether he plays in the hole or in a number four role, in front of the defence, I think he can do all of it. Technically he’s very good, he’s strong, and Alan knows all about him – which is fantastic – and obviously, he’s done a fantastic job, because he knows the player.
“Anyone who was at Selhurst Park that afternoon when Newcastle beat us 3-0 (2013) will know. We couldn’t get near him.”
When you look at the strengths of Cabaye, it would be hard for a Palace supporter not to get excited about what he can bring to the club. He is a quality midfielder that the team requires to be competitive with the bigger clubs in the league. He can play many different roles on the pitch, whether that be the holding-midfielder or as a more attacking asset looking to set up his teammates, similar to his early exploits when playing for Lille and in his first season at Newcastle. In his defensive performances during his career he is averaging 2.6 tackles and 2.3 intercepts per games.
This has created competition for places in the defensive role in the Palace midfield, that was for the last two seasons held by Socceroos Captain Mile Jedinak. However, since the incident against West Ham when he was suspended for four matches after elbowing Diafra Sahko, he had fallen out of favour with Alan Pardew, only making two starting appearances after the suspension was served.
If you compare Jedinak’s and Cabaye’s characteristics, they would complement each other quite well and should have the capability to dominate the midfield, but Jedinak, who does have the superior defensive stats at 3.4 tackles and 3.5 intercepts per game shows that he would be more suited to the defensive role in the team.
Another way in which they complement each other is with set pieces. The Australian is more the indirect free kick threat, setting up for his taller players to score goals, whereas Cabaye has the ability to knock the ball into the back of the net from direct set pieces.
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If Palace were able to get these two playing at the same time, they should be able to build the team around their abilities, given the impact that Jedinak has had alone in leading the team around the park since they won promotion from the championship in 2013. Regarded as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, it would seem a strange move to let their captain go just to get Cabaye into the side.
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