Morocco had a pretty disappointing World Cup if you look at the quality of players they have. Although they put in impressive performances against Portugal and Spain, all they could muster was a point that they picked up against Spain.
Some of the Moroccan players have caught the imagination of fans over the World Cup, though. One of them is Younes Belhanda.
Crystal Palace, after a miraculous escape from relegation last season, still haven’t signed a single outfield player. Their biggest departure so far has been Yohan Cabaye and Roy Hodgson cannot afford to leave the squad as is.
Palace have already been linked with quite a few midfielders and the recent one is Younes Belhanda. The Moroccan is currently contracted to Galatasaray until 2021. According to Turkish website Haberturk, Palace have made an offer of 6 million Euros.
A versatile midfielder, Belhanda can either play as a central midfielder, an attacking midfielder or even as a wide player. After winning the Ligue 1 with Montpellier, Belhanda’s career didn’t really take off as he moved to Dynamo Kyiv. Though he lifted the Ukrainian league with the side, he had a couple of loan spells at Schalke and Nice but didn’t make a permanent move.
In 2017, Galatasaray came calling as they needed someone to replace Wesley Sneijder. He featured in 30 games for the Turkish side last season, scoring three times and assisting eight.
Hodgson’s sides are always built on a strong defensive spine. Though Palace need a few more bodies at the back, Belhanda’s potential addition would make them a meaner team going forward. The Moroccan is someone who has a lot of flair and likes to take on players in the attacking half.
His passing is pretty impressive as well. Last season, he mustered a 2.7 key passes a game, which is pretty impressive and also got into wide areas to deliver at least one cross a game.
The more open nature of the Premier League will suit his style of play. Though his work rate is pretty impressive, he’ll need to sort out his tackling which is an issue.
If they can get him for the reported fee, he’d add a lot more bite to the attack considering Palace haven’t had a good number 10 for quite a while.
Stats via Whoscored
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