Category: Eagles

Tony Pulis and his Crystal Palace side are plotting an ambitious bid to bring Spanish striker Michu to London from rivals Swansea City.

Pulis is a long term admirer of the former Rayo Vallecano forward and had wanted to sign him while in charge of Stoke City but that move didn’t happen and the 28 year old moved to Swansea City a couple of years back.

Then Swansea manager Michael Laudrap managed to get the most out of his as he lit up the league in his first season but has trailed off somewhat with injuries and off form during his second season in England. That will not deter Pulis, however, and he is exploring the possibility of bringing the forward to London.

Swansea City are ready to cash in on their prized asset as well with Italian giants Napoli and Spanish champions Atletico Madrid interested in his services. But the most noise is being made by Michael Laudrap and his new club Lekhwiya of Qatar as he looks to be reunited with the Spanish forward.

But Crystal Palace are hopeful the chance of a move to a London club and a prolonged stay in the Premier League might just tilt the balance in their favor as they look to add attacking options to their ranks after struggling for goals during the early parts of last season.

Michu can play both as a target man up front or as a false nine in the striker position and this versatility has made him a valuable asset at Swansea and with Atletico Madrid looking to replace Diego Costa who is almost certain to move to Chelsea, they might have the financial clout to beat Crystal Palace to the player.

But Pulis is awaiting developments as he ponders a move for the player.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has sensationally claimed that he wants Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis to be awarded the Manager of the Year award. This is usually given to the manager responsible for winning the championship, but the Portuguese feels that Pulis has done an exceptional job since coming to the club midway through the campaign. When he arrived, Crystal Palace were staring at relegation. Now, they are fighting to get into the top half of the table. They will do so with the win over Chelsea, although it will be mightily difficult since the blues come as the table leaders.

After being relieved of his duties at Stoke City in the summer, Pulis has managed to transform a team struggling against relegation. Ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park, Mourinho has also claimed that he loves to visit this ground since it is one of the few places in England where the fans are extremely noisy and support their teams with a lot of passion. According to him, Portsmouth is one of those places, but since the South Coast team is travelling down in the lower leagues, he says that a visit to Crystal Palace is a must.

Mourinho has cleared rumours that he will rest most of his players in anticipation of the midweek PSG test.

“We played there in my first season, in 2004, but many of the players haven’t – and some of them don’t even know where the stadium is! I do and I know what we can expect. They are noisy, they support their team, they put pressure on ­opponents and the referee. But that’s nice. Without violence, that’s something I like. I miss Portsmouth, so I’m happy to go to Crystal Palace. They are not yet still in the Premier League. They still need points,” said Pulis.