March 19 2019

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

There’s been a lot of talk in recent weeks about one man: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, writes Steve Smart.

Now, there’s no denying that he’s deserving of the plaudits coming his way at the moment, but that doesn’t exactly help out Crystal Palace. He’s no doubt on the radar of all the top clubs in the Premier League and around Europe. Some of those are desperate for a decent right-back. Can Palace hold onto him?

The rise and rise of a youngster from Croydon

The incredible rise of Wan-Bissaka began last February. He made his debut in a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Spurs. You can guess the scorer that day. Yes, it was Harry Kane. Who else would it be? Anyway, there was a bit of an injury crisis at the time, which gave Wan-Bissaka his chance. And the took it with both hands. Although he was on the losing side that day, a lot of managers commented afterwards that Palace may have just found a gem.

They weren’t wrong. He was named Palace’s Player of the Month in March after strong performances against Chelsea and Manchester United, which was incredible really when you consider he was playing as a winger before breaking into the first team!

Palace, understandably, tied him down to a new and improved contract soon after, and he’s been top class ever since. Let’s not forget he’s still only 21.

What’s next for Wan-Bissaka?

Palace need to stay in the Premier League for a start. That should happen easily enough now with Cardiff, Southampton, and Brighton probably battling it out for the final relegation spot. Let’s be honest, Fulham and Huddersfield are already down.

There is no doubt that plenty of clubs will come in for the youngster in the summer. Money talks, but how much is he worth? He’s English, so that’s £20m straight away. He’s 21, add another £10m. He’s also very, very good already. £50m? There or thereabouts some would say.

There are only a few clubs in England willing to pay that sort of money for a full-back. Let’s look at the possible clubs…

Liverpool

With Trent Alexander-Arnold producing the goods on a weekly basis for the Reds, he’d probably be no more than a bit-part player under Klopp.

Chelsea

Cesar Azpilicueta has cemented that right-back spot for a while now, and he’s probably got a good four years left in him. Not only that, Chelsea are under a transfer embargo, so they can’t sign anyone this summer anyway.

Arsenal

They’ve got Hector Bellerin, but he’s out for a while with a nasty injury. Nonetheless, they still have the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Stephan Lichtsteiner, and Shkodran Mustafi who can all play there. Arsenal would probably get £50m to spend all summer, too, let alone spending that on one player, so we can rule them out.

Tottenham

They’ve got Kieran Tripper and Serge Aurier. There’s no need for them to sign another right-back. Let’s not forget they also have Kyle Walker-Peters as the third choice in that position.

Manchester City

One club wouldn’t think twice about spending that sort of money on one player. They’re probably OK, though, with Kyle Walker and Danilo in their ranks.

Manchester United

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Who do they currently have? Antonio Valencia looks like he’s on his way out of Old Trafford in the summer, and Ashley Young isn’t getting any younger. Diogo Dalot looks a fantastic prospect, but can they rely on just him at right-back going forward? No.

If he’s to move anywhere in the Premier League, Manchester United looks a likely destination. He’s available at odds of 16/1 to move to the Theatre of Dreams in the summer, which looks like a pretty decent price.

If you fancy backing it, why not snap up a welcome bonus code with a new bookmaker and use that instead of dipping into your own funds? Some of the top bookies in the UK offer welcome promos like bet £10 get £30, so you could use some of the bonus to bet on Wan-Bissaka moving to United at attractive odds.

Using a betting bonus code is simple, you just add the specified code when prompted, which will either be when you register or when you first deposit. You can’t go wrong.

Feel free to use welcome bonus money, or don’t, it’s completely up to you. It is a good price, though. He could stay of course. That would probably be the best option for him in all honesty. Have another year at Palace, play every game and think about what you want to do in a year’s time.

Whatever Wan-Bissaka decides to do this summer, there’s no doubt he’ll go on to be one of the top right-backs in Europe if he keeps working hard.

Palace will hope he stays of course, but the transfer fee would do wonders for rebuilding a squad that are tired of fighting relegation battles every season. A nice mid-table finish next season without any relegation fears would be nice.