Some very good players there and the economic disparity is gigantic. Good players coming in from western leagues cost way over 10 million. I don;t know if you guys saw the days of Stoichkov, Gheorghe Hagi, Nedved, Mijatovic, but getting in the best players of the Eastern European leagues for little money would be good business.

At least have them do the pre-season or winter training with the team. See if they're better than the wingers of attacking midfielders already at the team (which are not that many either) and then decide if you loan them out to the Championship so they can get more adapted to the English football or use them right away.

All the players below will still increase their value even if you sent them on loan to the Championship. All of them, from my knowledge, would accept going to a Championship club if it means they will have chances to step up to Palace's first team. All of them wil want salaries of around 8000 a week, so very small for English football.

They are:

From Bulgaria (7 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Ludogorets in the Champions League):

1. KIRIL DESPODOV- Bulgarian winger of 22, probably best Bulgarian to come since Stoichkov. Still young, but I think he can even play at top level at this age. They supposedly want 4.5 million pounds, but media says that would definitely sell for 2.7 million.

From Belarus (10 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Bate Borisov in Champions League groups)

2. PAVEL SAVITSKY- 25 yo winger, I happen to know that his club is only asking for 0.8 million pounds to sell and that he wants 5000 a week. In my opinion, he could play in a top league.

From Croatia (5 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League groups)

3. HEBER ARAUJO- 27 yo Brazilian winger or center forward playing for last year's champions Rijeka. If the prices of Dinamo Zgreb players are greatly inflated, the players from Rijeka are very cheap. Dinamo Zagreb definitely wants him and is willing to pay 2 million, there was talk of Italian Bologna a few months ago for the same amount. We're talknig about a guy who scored 35 in 68 matches in Croatia, mostly as a winger. If he had been playing for Dinamo Zagreb, he'd have been worth 20 million, not 2.

4. ANTONIO COLAK- also from Rijeka, the only center forward from Eastern Europe I think could actually make a difference in the Premier League (the others ae all attacking players, but not center forwards). His situation is complicated though, as he is on loan at Rijeka from Hoffenheim. 1 million to Rijeka and a couple of millions to Hoffenheim could land him though.

5. SAID AHMED- left footed winger or center forward from Hajduk Split. Hajduk has been doing bad lately in Croatian football, but this guy has kept them up. He has been constant and they wouldn;t charge much for him (around 1.5 million).

From the Czech Republic (10 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Czech clubs trashing Napoli and Lazio in the Europa League)

6. JAN MATOUSEK- this is more for the future as he's just 20 years old, but this player from Slavia Prague is one of the best European youngsters, somewhat underappreciated in his own country, as he hasn;t got any caps for the national team or the national U21 team. He sparringly plays for his club and they might sell, but he'd need to go to the Championship to adapt. I still think he'll become a great player.

From Slovakia (5 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Europa League trashing of Feyenoord by Trencin 4-0)

7. MOHA- Spanish-Morroccan 25 yo attacking midfielder or second striker. Grew up in Spain, but was loaned to the Ukrainean league, where he did very well, now playing in Slovakia and is probably the best player there. They would sell really cheap, I imagine 1 million max.

From Poland (40 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Europa League knockout phase)

8. DARKO JEVTIC- Swiss player playing for Lech Poznan as a winger or attacking midfielder, or even as central midfielder (Cabaye role). Left footed. I think they had a 2.6 million offer from Birmingham. His price is atill around that.

From Hungary (10 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Champions League football some years ago and Europa League football this year)

9. GABOR MOLNAR- left footed 24 yo winger, uncapped for the national team, which keeps his price down (though he'll probably be capped very soon as he;s the league's best scorer from wing position)

From Romania (20 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Europa League knock-out stages)

10. FLORINEL COMAN- 20 yo winger or striker. He's not eady for Premier League football yet, but would make a great investment. Steaua Bucharest owner changes his mind a lot and is a little upset after Coman's last match before the interruption of the season. After previously having demanded no less 20 million for him, he now said that whomever pays 2.7 million can gave him. But he might change his mind very fast next year, so now would be a good time to invest in him.

11. ANTONIO JAKOLIS- 26 yo Croatian who hardly plays for Steaua despite being the best assister in the Cyprus league last year. Right winger by trade, he has also learned to defend well being sometimes used as right back. Wouldn't really say he's PL material, but he could be a decent backup. Mentioned him here because they want to let him go for free, with just his wages being taken by a new club.

From Cyprus (little population, but over 70% foreign players, best result in recent years: Champions League knockout stage by Apoel)

12. GHAYAS ZAHID- 22 yo Norwegian attacking midfielder of pakistani descendance, very close to signing for Manchester City 2 years ago. Went to Apoel for first team football and became a king of assists in Cyprus. Though a good league, Cyprus teams don;t sell expensive at all. If they make 1-2 million of a player, it's already a record in their country.

From Israel (9 million inhabitants, best result in recent years: Champions League group stage)

13. DIA SABA- left footed winger or attacking midfielder, best in their league. Just bought in the summer by local powerhouse Hapoel Beer Sheva for 1.8 million, but they would probably sell for 3 million and a profit of over 1 million in 6 months. For Israeli football, that million means something, unlike in England.

And while we're talking about cheap investments, I also want to mention from South Korea's K-League:

14. SEON MIN MUN- 26 yo old winger, not a relative of Tottenham's Son Heung Min, but a similar player, with good numbers in his league (and the Korean league is not a poor one). He would also make for an amazing investment and atraction for Asian fans. He is valued at just 400k by the transfermarkt site and I can't see his actual price being more that 3 times that. He'd be very recognizable in the league, as no other team has a Korean player except for Tottenham, He might make Palace a lot of money with a transfer down the line. He's not a poor player like Chungy, but more a player like Man United's Park Ji Sung.

The arangement of the players above would be the following

Left footed: Central attacking mf-er: Right footed:
...................................................
Dia Saba...........Moha................Heber
Jevtic.............Gh. Zahid.............Despodov
Said Ahmed........Matousek............Savitsky
G. Molnar................................Son Min Mun
..............................................Coman
.............................................Jakolis
....................................................
....................................................

..................Center forward:...................
...................A. Colak.........................

Considering these prices, some of these players should really be considered and bought, even if only for an investment. Yes, I am aware that UEFA regulations are leading towards a decrease in the number of players you can buy and loan out in the following years, but I'm pretty sure that's easily dribbled by having them loaned out by the U23 team or the third team.

I don't know if Palace actually has a scouting chief for these Eastern European and far East areas, but to me there are some hidden gem there which would cost a lot more if they played in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland or other western counries.

Edited by mattteo (02 Jan 2019 3.02pm)

It's January 2nd, aren't we all on holliday?

An interesting list, but I expect that the prices at least double as soon as a premier league scout comes sniffing around. Then triple when West Hammer and Watford get thrown into the rumour mill.

I also think that Roy is not one to trust players that don't have Prem experience. And he's not wrong in thinking a lot of them take a year to bed in (and who gives players a year to adjust anymore?) Roy doesn't have the luxury of planning two years ahead.

I was one of those really hoping for Slimani and later Tosun and annoyed we didn't land them --but both have been busts. So what the heck do I know?

But given our position in the Table, I'm kinda with Roy on looking for a striker that's had some success (like Niasse), but doesn't break the bank.

I'm not sure what Palace scouts do to be honest (other than watch Babbacar) given the number of busts they've turned up. But your list would probably be a better summer starting point than the expensive options they are no doubt looking at now. Even more so if Roy retires and we got a manager that would actually play unknowns and youngsters.

Bulgarian sensation winger Kiril Despodov has been bought by Serie A Cagliari for just 3 million euros (2.7 million pounds).

[Link]

Dia Saba of Israel has gone to big spenders from China for 3,8 million.

Darko Jevtic from Lech Poznan is close to a transfer to Russian 3rd place FC Krasnodar for 2,3 million.

Must be done deal Wikipedia is already updated

Just saw this on Twitter.

[Tweet Link]

BREAKING: Florinel Coman's agent Ioan Becali is in London to negotiate his transfer to Crystal Palace. Coman, nicknamed 'Mbappe' after Hagi compared him to the French diamond, is priced at 15m euros by FCSB owner Gigi Becali.

True or not? Need a pinch of salt.

I am not a bot. No, seriously, I'm not.