Why Jack Butland Is A Fantastic Signing For Crystal Palace!

On the domestic Deadline Day last week, Crystal Palace got their hands on England International goalkeeper Jack Butland on a 3-year deal. Arriving from Stoke City after spending 7 years with the Potters and making 157 appearances for them, with an incredibly cheap price along with it. I'm going to talk about why this signing might not only surprise a few, but might turn out to be one of the best deals of the summer!

Firstly, let's talk about the price tag. A significant detail of when a player is moving from one club to another is the price, everyone wants to know how much a player costs as soon as a rumour is started for a potential transfer. Not only do club owners want a right price, but also fans nowadays, who take their clubs financial situation and pretend like they're the ones in charge to spend their clubs transfer budget. We all love a bargain, and this is why Jack Butland is a brilliant signing for Palace. £1 million pounds. That's it. That's the price Palace paid for him. In my opinion, this can only be seen one way; an absolute bargain. Yes Jack has had a dip in form in recent years with the relegation of Stoke from the Premier League and his lack of presence in the England squad, but still at only 27 years-old, he has a plethora of Premier League appearances under his belt and the experience of being an England International- like going to the 2018 World Cup. £1 million pounds in this modern era of football is peanuts in comparison to the transfer fees being splashed around out there, and there's no arguing the price for this one. It's simply a brilliant piece of business from Palace.

Since the 25-man Premier League squad registration list was released on Tuesday, it is now known that Butland will wear the all important number 1 shirt for Palace. This makes Jack the first Palace shot-stopper to wear the number 1 since club legend and Argentine, Julian Speroni.

This move sees Jack Butland not only back in the Premier League, but back working under the management of Roy Hodgson. During Hodgson's spell with the England national team, Butland was part of the goalkeeping unit for the Three Lions, and worked with Roy for four years. Roy gave Jack his first England debut against Italy, and for all you statisticians out there, it made Butland England's youngest ever goalkeeper. This familiarity and chemistry between these two could be vital in seeing Palace really make a push up the table in their bid to solidify themselves for another year of Premier League football next year. Roy has been a huge fan of Jack's and has been quoted in his recent press-conference as wanting to "resurrect his career". Hodgson has said "I am aware that his last spell at Stoke hasn't been the happiest one for him but I sincerely believe that with his qualities, coming to a new club will enable him to resurrect his career and show once again how good of a goalkeeper he is."

If Butland can get a string of games together for Crystal Palace, embedded with some good performances and maybe a couple of clean sheets along the way, then this transfer could be one of the best of this summer. Palace really have nothing to lose, at only £1 million pounds it's definitely a gamble worth taking! I just can't quite understand the little amount of talk this transfer has had, it certainly has the potential to be fantastic if Butland can regain the form he was under at Stoke during his Premier League and International spell. Certainly a dark horse, and one to keep an eye on during this 20/21 season!