Crystal Palace will head into 2015-16 with optimism after Alan Pardew took over from Neil Warnock halfway through last season. The Eagles went from flirting with the relegation zone around the Christmas period to finishing in a record 10th place.
This made Pardew the first manager to lead a club in the relegation zone to a top-half finish, his record of 21 games in charge of the Eagles so far bringing 12 wins, one draw and eight losses.
Palace have been fairly quiet on the transfer market during the offseason, in actual fact no new players have been signed yet during this window. Yet, on the other hand, they have let young right-back James Hunt go out on loan to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday and have also let young attacking midfielder Kyle DeSilva go to League Two side Notts County, after making nine appearances for the Eagles in the four years he was at the club.
There have been rumors about the signing of Yohan Cabaye which would see the Frenchman and Pardew reunited after the playmaker starred at Newcastle during Pardew’s time in charge. It is rumoured that Cabaye wants a£100,000 per week contract, which would go against the clubs policy of not signing anyone wanting more than £60,000 a week, however, the Eagles co-chairman Steve Parish is prepared to give Pardew the full support he needs to try and work out a way to get the 29-year-old to the club. This could potentially spell the end to Captain Mile Jedinak’s time at Selhurst, the Socceroo seeming to fall out of favour towards the end of the season after a brain snap against West Ham, and if this was to happen it would free up some funds that could go towards securing Cabaye.
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Another big target that Palace are pursuing is Charlie Austin, however, with the Queens Park Rangers striker being in high demand to say the least, he may be out of reach, also believed to be holding out for a transfer to Newcastle. Another striker on the radar for the Eagles is Loic Remy, also a player that has past experience with Pardew during his time at Newcastle. Remy was disappointed in the amount of playing time that he was received during last season at Chelsea, which is hardly surprising when you are up against the likes of Diego Costa. Palace are not the only team chasing Remy, with West Ham also in the race to sign the disgruntled forward, but Jose Mourinho does not want to give up the 28-year-old French International just yet.
The Eagles will not want the same slow start in 2015-16 that saw Neil Warnock sacked by the New Year, and if either of the three signings that Pardew has his eyes on can be secured, it would go a long way towards easing Crystal Palace nerves before the away season opener against promoted Norwich City on Saturday 8th of August.
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