Since both Southampton and Crystal Palace have goalkeepers heading towards the backend of their careers as starters, it isn’t surprising to see them look around for fresher gloves.
Vicente Guaita is 35 and is contracted until 2023 with the Eagles, and while he has an option to extend his stay at Selhurst Park for an extra year, it remains to be seen if that gets triggered.
As for Southamtpon, their goalkeeper situation includes a 40-year-old Willy Caballero, 33-year-old Fraser Forster and an injured 32-year-old Alex McCarthy.
While the latter has a few years left ahead of him at the highest level, it would make sense for Ralph Hasenhüttl to think about bringing in someone younger, like Etienne Green.
The 21-year-old’s name might not mean much for a lot of people who don’t watch French football, but the Colchester born goalkeeper, who is currently at AS Saint-Etienne in France, recently got his first cap for England’s U21s.
There has been a lot of talk regarding a potential move back to England, having spent all of his career to date with the Ligue 1 club, and Southampton and Crystal Palace are circling.
That’s according to But! Football Club, who says the name of the Saints and that of the Eagles ‘has circulated’, but only for ‘next year’, although we’ll have to wait and see if that leads to anything more serious.
One to keep an eye on for the summer, as Green has recently been kept on the bench after returning from elbow issues, so if his game time doesn’t return to what it used to be (a regular starter), he might consider the move back to England a bit more seriously.
