Former Southampton striker Dani Osvaldo was recently released by his former club following an unsuccessful spell at the club, but he may already be on the way to another established Barclays Premier League club with interest from Crystal Palace.

Palace manager Alan Pardew is rumoured to be interested in Osvaldo, although it is unclear whether he will make a move for the the controversial striker.

Misery at Southampton for Osvaldo

With his limited chances at Southampton and unsuccessful spells out on loan, Palace may be the perfect opportunity for Osvaldo to revive his career. The Italian international scored 17 goals in 51 appearances whilst on loan at Juventus, Inter Milan and Boca Juniors.

Those loan spells were all a result of a disappointing first season at Southampton and a change in manager at the club left him further out of favour. Ronald Koeman replaced Mauricio Pochettino, who had moved to Tottenham Hotspur, in the summer of 2014 and stated the club's intent to sell Osvaldo early into his spell at the Saints.

Unable to justify club record fee

Osvaldo was one of the few unsuccessful signings that former manager Pochettino brought in over the summer of 2013. He signed for a club record £12.8 million and was unable to produce performances worthy of his price tag. During his first and only season at the Saints he only managed to score three goals in 13 games, falling down the pecking order behind fellow striker Rickie Lambert. Ironically, one of those three goals came against the club potentially interested in signing him - Crystal Palace.

Although Southampton will have feel like it was money wasted on Osvaldo, they'll have been glad to release his reported £75,000 contract off their wage bill.

After the conclusion of the 2014/15 season Crystal Palace are yet to sign or sell a player, whereas Southampton have signed Juanmi and Cédric Soares permanently, whilst Maarten Stekelenburg has joined on loan from Fulham.

VAVEL Logo
About the author