Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira 'just doesn't trust' £14m 2021 arrival

Patrick Vieira does not have much confidence in Crystal Palace forward Odsonne Edouard at the moment, according to journalist Dean Jones.

Edouard joined the Eagles for £14m on deadline day last summer, but he has struggled for game time in recent weeks at Selhurst Park.

The 6 foot 2 forward made a flying start to his Palace career by scoring a brace on his debut against Tottenham back in September. He then netted another goal away at Arsenal the following month.

Vieira has also deployed Edouard on the left wing, and this appeared to be working when the attacker scored three goals in four league games in December and January from this position.

However, he has fallen out of favour over the past month, and has started just one of Palace’s last six top-flight games. Indeed, he has only played a single minute in the side’s last four league matches.

Marcus Rashford CONSIDERING FUTURE at Man United! Find out more on The Football Terrace…

Jones believes that Vieira does not have a great deal of faith in Edouard right now, and that explains why he has been consistently missing out on the starting XI.

He has also suggested that Vieira is not particularly content with any of his options for the No. 9 position, as things stand.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT about Vieira’s opinion of Edouard, Jones said: “He just doesn’t trust him. I’m not sure if Vieira trusts anyone to play through the middle.”

It seems that Jean Philippe-Mateta is the preferred option up front for Palace at the moment.

The Frenchman has scored in his last two Premier League away matches, and it appears that Vieira is likely to stick with him for the immediate future.

The former Arsenal midfielder has chopped and changed with his strikers this term, though, and this