Alan Pardew looks as if he might be about to put together the ultimate dream team at Crystal Palace.
The former Newcastle boss is hoping to bring not just one but two ex-Arsenal players to the Eagles. Namely, Emmanuel Edebayor and Nicklas Bendtner! What a strike force.
The two chaps played together at Arsenal from 2006, when Ade joined, until 2007 when Bendtner went on loan to Birmingham City. By the time he returned a season later, Ade had already left for pastures blue… I mean new.
Neither striker has had a particular fantastic time since leaving Arsenal. In his first season for City (2009/10), Ade didn’t do too badly. In fact, he appeared 31 times and scored 14. He started most Premier League matches and although he wasn’t on the level of someone like Sergio Aguero, at the time he did pretty well for a team looking to improve.
His second season, however, was quite as successful. He only played 14 games before being shipped off on loan to Real Madrid, which marked the beginning of the end. In a hugely competitive squad, the striker found it incredibly difficult to get game time and in 2011 he was sent out to Spurs, his former rival.
Although ‘thriving’ isn’t exactly the right word, Ade appeared to find his level at Spurs and eventually signed there full time… before getting released in 2015.
Now, Pardew wants to bring the free agent back to London.
Bendtner’s tale is perhaps even worse as he’s failed to integrated into just about every team he’s joined. After failing to make the first team at Arsenal after his loan spell in the midlands, we shipped him off to Sunderland and then Juventus, where he had similar success. We finally sold him to Wolfsburg, who’ve made it clear they’re open to offers for the Dane.
Again, enter Pardew.
Speaking recently, he said, “We’re still going down the line of Adebayor and a couple of the others mentioned but a few more have come to light.
“Bendtner is available and there’s someone else we are looking at. We’re after someone who can fit into our group and give us a lift. A big player coming in might do that.”
It’ll be nice to see those two ‘jokers’ back in the Premiership, eh?