Crystal Palace weighing up move for prolific ex-Premier League striker

Bottom placed Premier League club Crystal Palace are reportedly contemplating whether to make a move for free agent Rickie Lambert.

The Independent claims that Steve Parish a long-time admirer of Lambert following Premier League spells with Southampton, Liverpool and West Brom.

The news comes shortly after marquee striker Christian Benteke suffered a serious knee injury, sidelining him for a minimum of six weeks.

With Connor Wickham also out for the long-term, Roy Hodgson and the club hierarchy have had to consider a number of options to attempt to salvage an already bad situation.

Palace are currently propping up the Premier League table with no goals, no wins and no points to their name. Fixtures against Manchester United and Chelsea up next certainly aren’t expected to build confidence and lack of a potent striking threat could make things a whole lot worse for Hodgson’s side.

With the transfer window closed until January, Steve Parish and sporting director Dougie Freedman are aware that their options are limited to free agents right about now.

Lambert had been touted as a potential signing last January when Neil Warnock released him from his contract with Cardiff City. He scored four goals in 18 Championship appearances prior to leaving the Championship club and is now training in his home city of Liverpool to keep his fitness levels up.

Roy Hodgson memorably handed Lambert his England international debut in 2013, along with 12 other caps. Hodgson is a known admirer of the 35 year old from his prolific days at Southampton, where Lambert bagged 117 goals in 235 appearances.

Palace have paved the way for a potential new signing by making one space open in their 25-man Premier League squad. Goalkeeper Kleton Perntreou was recently released and claimed that he was told he would be making way for a new player.

Perntreou told the South London Press: “I got told by the club officials that they needed to free up a space in the 25 man squad for a new signing that should be coming.”