Despite things going well for Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace recently, there are still arrivals needed this summer.
For Crystal Palace, it’s been three excellent wins on the bounce which signals that the Oliver Glasner era is well underway.
Wednesday night in many ways was the best display of the lot, with no mistakes, no goals conceded and two excellent goals scored.
Selhurst Park is now being spoiled with the football they’re getting to see as most of the league would be envious of Glasner-ball.
But to rest on this foundation would be silly, and the Eagles will need to build this summer as there’s no telling how high the Austrian can take us.
Now, it seems Dougie Freedman has his eyes on a Japanese centre-back who’d be perfect for this Palace team.
READ MORE: Who is Dougie Freedman? The Crystal Palace Sporting Director linked with Manchester United switch
Crystal Palace now want to sign Koki Machida this summer
As we know, this summer is likely to see Palace strengthen at centre-back, with Glasner’s three-at-the-back formation meaning options here are slim.
Now, Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri has indicated that on the Eagles’ list could be Union Saint-Gilloise defender Koki Machida.
It’s said that Palace are among the main contenders for the Japan international’s signature, alongside Nottingham Forest.
Machida has been enjoying a strong season in Belgium and won the Belgian Pro League regular season with USG, which means it’s little surprise to see Premier League interest around.
But would he be a good addition and potential Marc Guehi replacement? Let’s have a look.
What would Machida bring to Selhurst Park?
For USG this campaign, Machida has played 2,270 minutes and has been extremely impressive for the majority of his time on the field.
But to see where his biggest strengths lie, we thought it best to look at the data, here are his stats from the 2023/24 season.
From this table, we can see that Machida has quality in every area that you’d want a defender to have qualities, and therefore would probably be a really shrewd signing.
Machida wouldn’t cost too much either, with Spurs being quoted £13m in January before they opted for Radu Drăgușin instead.
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