Fallen superstar to use Crystal Palace to stay in London?

By Alessandro Schiavone

A four-time Premier League champion has set his sights on a switch to Crystal Palace so as to not uproot his family from London.

One year after preferring Arsenal to the Eagles, Raheem Sterling could now be offered an escape route by Oliver Glasner's FA Cup-winning heroes in a bid to refresh their attacking options.

Be it at Eintracht Frankfurt in the past or at Selhurst Park in the last 18 months, the Austrian has so far proven to have something akin to a magic wand when it comes to elevating the level of his strikers.

Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller, Filip Kostic, Ebere Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta have all gone from strength to strength under his guidance. Some have even gone from flops to heroes.

But it remains to be seen whether a fading force like Sterling fits the identikit of players suited to Palace's fast-paced transition game.

Palace have a number of outstanding footballers such as Eze, Marc Guehi and Mateta but none in the superstar bracket like the ex-Man City A-lister who has lifted 11 major trophies in his career. His experience could even help the club to Conference League glory.

Yet the fact Chelsea are looking for as little as £15m for a player they paid three times as much only three years ago should perhaps raise some red flags. They could even offer him a compensation package to get him off their books.

Once an England and Man City regular, Sterling terrorised defences with his dancing feet, the ability to beat his man and score in many different ways.

But as his dismal recent record suggests he's now a far cry from the world-class player he once was, having lost a yard of pace, if not two along the way.

And his hunger seems to have completely dissipated since Pep Guardiola told him to find a new club three summers ago. Some believe he has never recovered from that shock to the system. Watching on as Man City won the Champions League without him made it undoubtedly worse.

His confidence undoubtedly took further knocks after being discarded by the Three Lions, Arsenal and the Blues in recent years.

But never underestimate Glasner's Midas Touch.

And the humble Austrian could now be tempted by the prospect of taking a punt on the fallen hero in a bid to revive his career.

And needless to say the player himself would do anything for a second bite at the Eagles cherry to stay in his beloved London...