Eventually settling on Alexander Sörloth, much of Crystal Palace’s January transfer window was spent trying to find someone capable of relieving the pressure placed on Christian Benteke to try and find the back of the net.
By his standards, the Belgium international is having a disastrous season, scoring just twice in 26 appearances, and Crystal Palace are having to rely on people around him to get their goals.
One of the targets, according to the Italian press at the time, was Fiorentina’s Khouma Babacar, who was eventually sold to Sassuolo for around £8m.
The final sale price confirms what Gazzetta dello Sport were reporting in mid-January, that his former club would have been pleased with a €15m offer had it arrived on their desk, but it never did.
Used sporadically by Stefano Pioli during the first-half of the season, the Senegalese forward was backup to Giovanni Simeone, and there was a reason for that.
Now at Sassuolo, it appears Roy Hodgson and co. have dodged a bullet, as even with regular game time, Babacar is struggling to find form.
With just two goals in seven appearances, one of which was a penalty, the 25-year-old was described by Gazzetta over the weekend as the ‘ghost in the box’, suggesting his presence in the opposition area is lacking.
In fact, his manager, Giuseppe Iachini, didn’t even trust him to lead the line against Milan on Sunday evening, leaving him on the bench for the entire game.
While Sörloth hasn’t done much better, at least he gives Hodgson an option down the left.
He’s also three years younger and cost £1m less.
