Better than Hughes: Parish dropped big CPFC howler on "super talented" £20m machine - opinion

Crystal Palace showed during the previous summer transfer window that they can be rather active in the market when it comes to bringing new players to the club and moving some out the other way.

While the previous January window wasn’t as busy as the summer period was, one potential deal that the Eagles were mentioned with that they may now be regretting is one for Reading midfielder John Swift.

He had reportedly caught the interest of the south London club as well as fellow Premier League sides Wolves, Burnley and Norwich City. For any team wanting to acquire his services, it was a thought a fee in the region of £20m would have been enough. However, with his contract up at the end of the season, he will become a free agent.

Since joining the Championship club back in 2016 from Chelsea’s U23 side, the 26-year-old, who has been described as a “super-talented” player by Veljko Paunovic, has gone on to make 198 appearances for the club across all competitions in which he has managed to score 34 goals and provide 38 assists along the way.

This season has seen the Englishman show why just so many top-flight clubs were interested in him as he’s scored 11 goals and delivered 13 assists in 34 league appearances, earning himself an overall performance rating of 7.16, making him the highest-rated player in Reading’s squad according to WhoScored. That would also make him the second-highest rated Palace player by the same metric.

Looking closer at Swift’s attacking talent, the midfielder has racked up more shots on target (28) and crosses (184) than any of his teammates this season.

With Palace securing a deal for midfielder Will Hughes back in the summer, who has only provided one assist in 12 league games for his new side in the