It's been a long old season for Crystal Palace fans this year, with hefty defeats to rivals, an injury list that never seems to shrink and football that could put anyone to sleep.
However, the decision to replace Roy Hodgson with Oliver Glasner feels like a turning point and could be the best thing that's happened to the Eagles for quite some time.
The Austrian has enjoyed brilliant success in Germany and is known for his progressive and attacking style of play, something he'll likely bring to Selhurst Park once he has the right players.
That means many current starters, such as Jordan Ayew, probably won't be in the team a few years from now, but the club could already have the perfect replacement for the experienced Ghanaian.
Jordan Ayew's Crystal Palace career
Now, the first thing to say is that Ayew has been a brilliant player for Palace over the years. While he has never quite grabbed the attention in the same way as Michael Olise or Eberechi Eze, for example, his contribution to the team has been invaluable.
He first joined the south Londoners on a season-long loan from Swansea City for the 2018/19 campaign before making a permanent move a year later for just £2.5m, which now looks like an absolute bargain.
So far, the 32-year-old has made 201 appearances for the Eagles in which he has scored 23 goals and provided 21 assists, meaning that he has averaged a goal involvement every 4.56 games in the five and a half seasons he has been at the club, which, for the price paid, is a brilliant return.
That said, if the club want to truly push on under the guidance of Glasner and help him to achieve something similar to his Europa League glory with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, they'll need to provide him with dynamic players with room to develop and as brilliant as Ayew has been at Selhurst Park, he is not that.
Luckily, the emergence of a talented youngster at the club means they might already have the perfect replacement.
Why fans should be excited about Jesurun Rak-Sakyi
The youngster in question is 21-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who already has quite an impressive record for a young player.
He joined the club's youth setup from Chelsea in 2019 and made 56 appearances across the various youth sides, in which he scored 29 goals and provided 16 assists, meaning he averaged 0.80 goal involvements per match, primarily from the wings.
With junior football no longer a sufficient challenge for the Southwark-born gem, he was sent out on loan to League One outfit Charlton Athletic for the 2022/23 season, where he scored 15 goals and provided eight assists in 43 league appearances.
He made a tangible impact during his time at The Valley, with then-manager Dean Holden describing him as someone who would "run through a brick wall for Charlton" and as a "fantastic young player" with "a real chance of going to the top level."
Since returning from loan, the "remarkable" winger, as described by former manager Hodgson, has made ten appearances for the club. However, only three of those have been starts, and he might have to wait until next season for his next one as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
It is clear then that Rak-Sakyi could well replace Ayew in the starting lineup over the next couple of years, but he could do more than that, as with how he is spoken about by those in the know and his impressive record, he could be the heir apparent to Wilfried Zaha's throne.
Appearances
17
39
10
49
Goals
8
21
0
15
Assists
8
8
0
9
Goal Involvements per Match
0.94
0.74
0.00
0.48
If the 5 foot 10 gem can break into the first team as an academy product, he'll be following a similar route to Zaha, and while he primarily plays on the right wing, he has made 38 appearances on the left, suggesting he's versatile.
Crystal Palace should hand academy "monster" his debut in place of Mateta
The incredibly talented youngster has been tearing it up at youth level and deserves a chance in the first team.
ByJack Salveson HolmesMar 4, 2024
Ultimately, Glasner has a big project on his hands at Palace, and while players like Ayew have been brilliant over the years, the emergence of Rak-Sakyi gives the Austrian an opportunity to replace him in a year or two seamlessly.
