@SkySports_Keith: Sky Sources: We understand the fee agreed between Palace and Sunderland for striker Connor Wickham is £9m including add-ons.

Not a bad gamble at this price. The only time sunderland played him upfront he scored 5 in 5 and kept them up the season before last. Has potential I think.

Very good signing. Young, plenty of potential to develop further and on his day, an absolute beast. When he's good, he's very, very good. He's played in an awful side that has employed often negative tactics due to always being in a relegation battle, that has little creativity and even less confidence...about the worst set up he could have had at the development stage of his career. He's have been better to stay at Ipswich a couple of years longer.

Put him in a Palace shirt with the Holmesdale behind him and Cabaye, Puncheon, Wilf, Yala et al supplying him and mark my words, it'll be a different story. He's not moving from Sunderland; he's being emancipated. If Wickham fulfils even 75% of his potential, his value could easily double by next summer.

What I think we're seeing is what Americans would call the introduction of a "rotation system" up front. We've clearly decided not to go for the one, big-name, multi-million pound main man (Austin, Adebayor, or whoever) and instead, probably based on current form, deploy a combination of Gayle, Murray, Chamakh, Bamford and Wickham according to the opposition and how they're playing at the time. Next summer, assuming we push on this season, we'll be in better position to pursue a bigger name target with the new TV money at our disposal.

This move makes sense on all levels. It has a very high upside and at his best, Wickham gives us a forward who could be a key player for many years. Very happy.