It wasn't a good return to Premier League football over the weekend for Crystal Palace, as they fell to a 5-0 defeat at the hands of title-chasing Arsenal.
Roy Hodgson has since seen his job called into serious question, and the atmosphere around the club is far from ideal.
However, with the transfer window in full swing, Steve Parish and the board have a chance to turn things around and excite the fans by signing a player they were linked to earlier in the window, who could replace Odsonne Edouard at the tip of the attack and supercharge Michael Olise's creative numbers at the same time.
If you can't beat them, sign them
According to a report from the Daily Star earlier this month, Palace are on the lookout for some attacking reinforcements in January, and Hodgson is targeting Arsenal's backup striker, Eddie Nketiah, to be precisely that.
The report also revealed that the Gunners have placed a £30m price tag on the head of their number 14, who, over the weekend, laid on the assist for the club's fourth goal against Palace.
However, due to the 24-year-old's current contract running until 2027, any deal that sees him head to Selhurst Park will require another striker to arrive at Arsenal first, although money talks in football, and the right offer could tempt the Gunners into selling regardless.
It could end up becoming an expensive deal, but with Edouard's poor goalscoring form and the chance to see Olise with a more natural finisher in the side, Parish and Co could be tempted into splashing the cash.
How Eddie Nketiah compares to Edouard
When Edouard moved from Celtic to Palace in the summer of 2021 for a fee of around £14m, there was quite a bit of excitement; after all, the Frenchman had scored 18 goals in 26 starts for the Hoops the season before. However, after two and a half years, the 26-year-old hasn't scored 18 Premier League goals.
In contrast, Nketiah has bagged five goals in just ten league starts this season and one in as many starts in the Champions League.
Described as the "real deal" and a "monster" by The Athletic's Aaron Catterson-Reid, Nketiah has had to craft a resume as an out-and-out goalscorer from Arsenal's bench, but were he given the opportunity to start week-in-week-out for the Eagles, he could well become one of the division's most potent frontmen, at least that's what his underlying numbers suggest.
So far this season, the Arsenal understudy has racked up a non-penalty expected goal and assists figure of 0.44, but scored 0.46 non-penalty goals and provided 0.18 assists per 90, demonstrating that he has the raw ability to outperform what is statistically expected of him.
In fairness, Edouard also slightly outperforms his expected figures, but not to the extent of Nketiah.
Moreover, the Englishman takes more shots per 90 than his potential competition but requires fewer shots on target to find the back of the net, which could be a game-changer for a player like Olise.
Nketiah
Edouard
0.44
0.43
0.46
0.43
0.18
0.00
2.94
2.83
0.50
0.40
79.3%
70.6%
2.39
2.68
0.74
0.07
1.56
1.45
The tricky winger currently has an expected assists figure of 2.7 per 90 but has only had one league assist to his name so far this season, which is a significant indicator that his teammates, whom he is finding and setting up with great opportunities, are not putting them away.
Now, if he was regularly starting alongside the Lewisham-born poacher and providing him with the same sort of service, then there is no reason why he shouldn't expect to see his assist tally rise with more regularity.
Likewise, the Arsenal man has already provided three assists across all competitions this season, so he could also provide for the Frenchman.
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Ultimately, with Palace desperately needing a reliable goalscorer and a positive transfer story to show fans they are on the right track, they could do a lot worse than signing Nketiah.