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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Back in the summer, Crystal Palace lost their first-choice right-back and Player of the Season Aaron Wan-Bissaka, with the academy graduate joining Manchester United in a deal worth £50m.
That left Roy Hodgson with just Joel Ward as his only senior right-back option, and amazingly, the Eagles didn’t sign a replacement for Wan-Bissaka despite numerous links.
Who were they linked with?
As well as putting in a reported £25m bid for Chelsea right-back Reece James – which was rejected – the south Londoners were reportedly going toe-to-toe with arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion for the signature of Montpellier’s Ruben Aguilar.
However, the Frenchman eventually opted to stay in Ligue 1 and join Monaco, signing a five-year contract with the 2017 champions.
A bullet dodged?
Whilst it’s never nice to lose out on a transfer target, the Eagles may well have dodged a bullet with Aguilar – if his start to life at Monaco is anything to go by, at least.
The 26-year-old has made three Ligue 1 appearances for Leonardo Jardim’s side so far this term but has started his career at the club in terrible fashion.
In his first-ever start for Monaco, Aguilar was involved in a 3-0 loss at home to Lyon and that isn’t even the worst of his three appearances so far.
In his second game, the right-back was handed a straight red card in the 34th-minute, with his side already 1-0 down to Metz – Monaco went on to lose that game 3-0 as well.
Additionally, in his first game back following his suspension, Aguilar was involved in a defensively chaotic 4-3 loss to Marseille, a game in which he also picked up a yellow card.
Of course, you can never truly say how Aguilar would have adapted to Premier League football, but on the basis of his start to life at Monaco, it seems that Palace have dodged a bullet here.
