Crystal Palace have struck gold on Eagles star who's worth more than Esse

Oliver Glasner’s Eagles have managed to climb the Premier League table with a recent upturn in form, finding themselves now 12th in the division, sitting on 27 points after 22 games played, winning six times, drawing nine times and losing seven times.

Since the start of December, Crystal Palace have only lost two games, both of those losses coming against Arsenal, once in the Premier League and once in the EFL Cup.

This run of form has seen draws against the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, and some big wins against the likes of West Ham, Brighton and Leicester.

It looks as though they’re finally getting over Michael Olise’s summer exit.

Michael Olise’s record at Palace

Glasner’s side have started to find the back of the net on a more regular basis over the last few games, with the front three now establishing itself and beginning to gel after Olise departed for Bayern Munich.

Of interest to plenty of Europe’s biggest teams, he left Selhurst Park behind having dazzled their adoring fans on a regular basis.

In total, the French winger scored 16 goals and registered 25 assists in 90 outings with 16 of those goal invovlements coming in just 19 matches in 2023/24.

So, replacing him was always going to be a tricky one, but Ismaila Sarr is beginning to prove his worth.

Ismaila Sarr’s form at Palace

Once Olise left Palace in the summer, the Eagles went ahead and signed Sarr from Marseille, joining the club for a fee of around £12.5m.

He now is finally starting to settle, having an impact on games and helping the Eagles to get points on the board. Since the 26-year-old signed, he has made 27 appearances, scoring four goals, providing three assists and totalling 1,635 minutes played.

It took until the end of November for Sarr to fully impact games with his output, but since then, the Senegalese winger has shown why Steve Parish and Co struck gold by bringing him to the club. He’s found a real nice balance in attack with Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta, which has seen Glasner’s side go on a good run in the Premier League.

Sarr’s transfer valuation has already risen slightly since joining, with his market value now sitting at £17m according to Transfermarkt.

Market Movers

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For context, that is already worth more than their new signing, Romain Esse, who joined from Millwall this month for a fee of around £12m (potentially rising to £14.5m with add-ons).

How Ismaila Sarr compares to Romain Esse

Esse made 26 appearances for Millwall this season, scoring five goals and providing one assist in 2,165 minutes. He has shown his versatility playing on both the left and right wing, as well as through the middle when needed.

Labelled a “freak talent” by Ben Foster, who played with the Senegal international at Watford, Foster has previously spoken of how Sarr makes things happen, even if he doesn’t know what he’s going to do, which fits nicely with his direct nature, often looking to attack the box as often as possible, create chances and get shots off when possible. That’s rather similar to Esse who has been lighting up second-tier defences already this term.

Dubbed a “superstar in the making” by Millwall manager, Gary Rowett, the youngster could benefit from challenging Sarr for a starting spot alongside Eze behind the striker, both offering slightly different attributes in that role.

Having Sarr ahead of Esse could allow the young winger to settle at the club with less pressure, not being thrust immediately into the limelight, building up his experience and showing quality with rotated/substitute appearances, which are likely to spark support from the fans with his excellent technical ability.

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