Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace are already fighting an uphill battle, having lost one of their jewels in the crown, Michael Olise, as he left to join Bayern Munich this summer.
Palace finished tenth in the Premier League last season and will be looking for reinforcements to secure their spot in the top half again next season. This comes after already making a few signings, such as Chadi Riad, and Daichi Kamada.
But Palace are still hunting for that wide star, to come in and replace the output of Olise. One who has been linked already is Marseille winger Ismaila Sarr, who has Premier League experience under his belt with Watford a few years ago.
Crystal Palace transfer news
According to reports from the Mirror last week, Crystal Palace are set to step up in their pursuit of Leeds United winger and Championship POTY, Crysencio Summerville, who is also attracting interest from Newcastle and Aston Villa.
The reports also state the winger is available for around £40m this summer, and the amount of interest in the player could spark a bidding war among clubs.
Summerville made 49 appearances for Leeds in all competitions last season, scoring 21 goals, providing ten assists, and totalling 3,892 minutes.
Summerville vs Sarr comparison
Described as "unstoppable" by Statman Dave back in 2022, Summerville has also proven himself in the Premier League, having a run back in the 2022/23 season of scoring a goal in four consecutive games.
Now, of course, Summerville whilst playing on the opposite side, would be joining to replace the output of Olise, who was deployed from the right-hand side. However, the other heavy link, as we mentioned earlier, as an Olise replacement, is Marseille's Sarr. But who of Summerville and Sarr are better suited to replace the assets of Olise for Palace?
Non-Penalty Goals
0.39
0.24
0.64
Assists
0.23
0.19
0.42
Shots Total
3.16
1.77
3.95
Shot-Creating Actions
6.10
2.87
5.79
Progressive Passes
4.40
2.39
5.51
Progressive Carries
5.04
3.01
4.80
Successful Take-Ons
2.52
0.96
2.82
Key Passes
2.88
1.19
2.54
Instantly, you can see how much closer Summerville is to Olise, especially creatively, compared to that of Sarr. In the passing-specific metrics, the Leeds United sensation is only around one progressive pass per 90 away from Olise, and is actually ahead of Olise in the key passes metric.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent's goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Compared to Sarr, who is over two progressive passes per 90 away from Summerville, and three away from Olise, as well as being over one key pass away from both per 90. These passing metrics in addition to the shot-creating actions metric being over half of Summerville's shows the creative difference between them as players.
If Palace are looking to replace the creative output of Olise, whilst still providing that carrying threat, and goal threat of their own, the tricky Dutch star is a much closer fit to the mould than Sarr.
However, as mentioned earlier, position also matters. Summerville is more commonly deployed from the left side, whereas Sarr and, of course, Olise are both right-sided players.
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