Crystal Palace were on the receiving end of a 2-0 drubbing by Wolves as Roy Hodgson’s side started off slowly at Molineux on Friday night. Palace loan signing Michy Batshuayi struggled to make much of an impression before he was replaced by Christian Benteke – although he was by no means the only player at fault for the poor performance.

What’s the story?

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, Palace are facing an exodus of players with thirteen of them coming out of contract next term. Hodgson has some big decisions to make as several senior members of the squad have entered the final few months of their deals.

It’s claimed that former Aston Villa frontman Benteke could be departing Selhurst Park along with Connor Wickham when their contracts run out in the summer. So, Palace chairman Steve Parish must return for Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard in the winter transfer window.

Bye Benteke

Reports in recent times revealed that the Eagles were interested in signing the £13.5m-rated centre-forward as a potential Benteke replacement. The report by The Times suggested that Palace were prepared to sell the Belgium international in the summer, but a move failed to materialise, so they went back to the drawing board.

Hodgson and Parish embarked on a summer spending spree, splashing out on the likes of Batshuayi and former Queens Park Rangers winger Eberechi Eze, whilst they also brought in Nathan Ferguson from West Bromwich Albion.

Goals have started to dry up in spite of the new signings, as Batshuayi has failed to find the back of the net so far, although in fairness that isn’t for want of trying, whilst Wilfried Zaha is the club’s leading goalscorer in all competitions, having scored five times in total, via Transfermarkt.

But the 17-cap Ivory Coast international needs someone who can share the burden of scoring goals and Edouard is a player who can do precisely just that.

Once hailed as an “exceptional” player by football journalist David Tanner, Edouard was recently described by Celtic boss Neil Lennon as a “special talent” after his hat-trick against Hamilton.

The 22-year-old has bagged 66 goals in over 100 appearances for the Bhoys, via Transfermarkt. By comparison, Benteke has only scored 23 goals in 118 games for the Eagles.

Just imagine the chaos he could cause alongside Zaha – it almost doesn’t bear to think about. Getting rid of the Belgian would make room for the 6-cap France U21 international in the first team instead.

AND in other news, Steve Parish must convince Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell to sign new contract…