Palace buy-back idea

As the title states, I have an idea of how to circumnavigate the loan rules to get young players into the Palace team. The side badly needs a rebuild, and has done for a while, with it all coming to a head this summer as FOURTEEN first team players are out of contract. Some will re-sign, obviously, but the squad needs change, and now that Hodgson is gone it can happen. I reckon a couple loans will happen, but that still leaves a number of positions with little to no depth.

For this exercise, I'm including only home-grown players, as in Brits. Most will be from "big clubs", as they have higher expectations and one would be daft not to look at that as an opportunity. Brentford, in particular, don't have an "academy" per se, and they've found cast-offs from bigger clubs' academies to eventually join the first team. Also, Palace are known as a club that focuses on domestic players and coaches, particularly from London, which is reasonable. TM values are next to the player's name.

Eddie Nketiah, 16.2m (CF) - If Benteke goes, or if there's no intention of signing Mateta, it would make sense to at least have one finisher at the club. His contract expires in 2022, and I don't see why Arsenal would renew, since he's not good enough. Thus, it makes sense to sell this summer. Since Palace are run by cheapskates, a buy-back would give Arsenal the option to get him back at some point if he proves to be a top player, and Palace would get a better deal.

Ethan Ampadu, 13.5m (CB/DM) - he's been trending in the wrong direction since breaking through somewhat at Chelsea. Loaning him to Leipzig when they had Adams, Haidara, Kampl, and Laimer at DM, as well as the French guys plus Orban and the German fullbacks all capable of playing CB was an idiotic move. Sheffield United regressed some kind of bad this year. Certainly not down to Ampadu, but it wasn't a particularly helpful period. Palace have a bunch of old and out of contract CB's (plus the injured Ferguson) so it could be worth a shot. Chelsea just sold Tomori, who's a better CB, and have Guehi coming back from Swansea. I could see them adding in that position as well, sooner or later.

Tom Davies, 14.4m (CM) - One of two in a row who fill a similar role, which would be the box-to-box midfielder, more of a ball-winner than a creator or goalscorer. Davies doesn't stand out, numbers wise. He's the type of hometown player that plays for the Everton shirt but isn't that talented, at least with the solid midfield options they currently have. If, let's say, they want to still push forward with ambition, he should move on. On a quick search I found him linked to Southampton, which would make sense, actually. That's his level, and this isn't a diss or anything.

Conor Gallagher, 10.8m (CM) - another Chelsea player coming from a loan at a relegated side, he'd bring energy to the team. His fbref numbers have him highly rated in pressures, tackles, and blocks, and he completed 1.35 dribbles per 90 at WBA. It really depends who comes in as manager, in terms of whether Gallagher would fit what he intends to do at Palace.

Brandon Williams, 9m (LB/RB) - a popular player for a loan, I'd imagine, though at LB he's third choice behind Shaw and Telles. He's right footed, but United are also linked to Trippier. Would make some sense to let him play for a lesser club for 2-3 seasons and reassess his potential to be a starter at United.

Reiss Nelson, 9m (RW) - not sure why he hasn't played for Arsenal. They brought in Pepe and Willian; neither has been great. Still only 21, he simply needs to play. Townsend may leave, and Eze is out for a while, so there's room at Palace. It's one of those situations where if I were Palace, I would rather buy him than loan him. What's the point having him for one season (or half of one if they have a recall option) and then losing him for nothing. Like I said for B Williams above, it makes more sense to let him develop and play regularly, get some continuity, and then see if he can play at the highest level. That's if Arsenal are even at the "highest level" at that point.

Morgan Gibbs-White, 5.4m (AM) - would be dependent upon the new manager at Wolves, and whether he has any use for MGW. Like many young English players, he broke through at a young age (16) and hasn't progressed linearly. That's normal. It's not FIFA or FM where guys grow a certain amount each season. With Eze out, he could be a creative type in a midfield devoid of creativity. Palace and Wolves are at similar levels.

Neco Williams, 7.2m (RB) - For me, he's not good enough yet to back up Trent. He may never reach a level becoming of a Liverpool starter. But to sit around and play U23 games or just rot on the bench makes no sense. Palace literally have 3 RB's out of contract this summer. Like I've been saying, there's WAY more incentive to have a player permanently than mess around on loan for a year. Sell him for say 8-12 million with a 30 million buyback. That way, Palace get a young RB with promise, Liverpool get a fee and can buy him if he becomes a world beater, and Williams gets to play.

Rhys Williams, 4.5m (CB) - just like his namesake, this is another Liverpool player who likely won't get game time next season. The only reason he was thrown in this season was the almost unbelievable injury crisis at CB. He's also 20, like Neco, and at that age playing regularly is obviously important. If you have VVD, Gomez, Konate, Matip, and Phillips, you don't need Williams just sitting there. Three of those are under 25 as well, so selling him (or Matip/Phillips, tbf) would make sense. Comparing him to Ampadu, the other CB here, he's the typical CB, while Ampadu is the modern one. There's obviously the height difference, which means Ampadu is decent at best in the air while Williams is a beast. Really just depends on what the team needs. Could go for, both, tbh, if Cahill and Dann and the like aren't renewed. And if Nuno were appointed, bringing his 3 CB system, it would make sense to stock up a bit there.

At the end of the day, I doubt any of these players will start for their current clubs any time soon. Thus, it would only make sense for Palace to look at them, considering the state of the squad. If I were to pick the most "sensible" of them, I'd say Gallagher and Nelson. Gallagher because he'd bring energy to a boring midfield and Nelson because Zaha is the only fit winger under contract (if you count Ayew as a striker).