Crystal Palace are right to target ‘terrific’ 19-year-old Dutchman, he’s the ideal Andersen successor
This summer, Crystal Palace are set to be busy in the transfer market and now the ideal Joachim Andersen successor has been identified.
Crystal Palace have multiple players who are expected to be the subject of substantial interest this summer from various top teams.
Michael Olise has been linked with both Manchester sides while Marc Guehi has been linked with half of the big six.
Eberechi Eze is another to be attracting interest, with Joachim Andersen also expected to have suitors.
If interest in Andersen does arrive, it looks like Dougie Freedman and Palace have already identified the perfect successor and he comes from the Championship where Palace have had such success already.
HITC Football’s transfer expert Graeme Bailey has reported that Palace are one of several Premier League sides to have an interest in talented Middlesbrough defender Rav van den Berg.
Palace are said to have watched the Dutch defender over recent months and a summer move could be on the cards for the teenager who captained Boro in their last game.
Here’s why Palace should absolutely consider signing him…
Crystal Palace should definitely be targeting Rav van den Berg this summer
With interest in Palace’s two strongest centre-backs, a strong, young replacement is needed and in that event, the Selhurst Park side must look no further than Van den Berg.
Since arriving from PEC Zwolle last summer, Van den Berg has made 26 Championship appearances along with playing a key role in Boro’s run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
At just 19, he is beyond his years which explains why Michael Carrick gave him the armband, with the former England midfielder labelling the defender ‘terrific‘.
His display on February 17th against Leicester showed exactly why he’s such a talent, with a match rating of 7.4 handed to him by FotMob.
In this game, he had a pass accuracy of 94 per cent, while making 12 defensive actions and winning 100 per cent of his duels, against the league leaders.
Who is Rav van den Berg?
While he’s been ripping up the Championship he’s still a fairly unknown name for many. Rav is the 19-year-old younger brother of Liverpool’s centre-back Sepp who is currently on loan with Mainz.
Standing at over 6ft 2in, Rav is a dominant figure but retains some really impressive mobility and on-ball talent.
Born in Zwolle, he played for his boyhood club in the Netherlands until he made the move to Boro last summer.
With a contract until 2027, he won’t be easy to prise away, but Boro will likely to tempted by a decent offer this coming summer due to the number of Premier League sides interested.
He could be the perfect successor to both Andersen and Guehi, we certainly hope he’s a target this summer.
