Real Betis could try to bring Victor Camarasa back from his loan spell at Crystal Palace in January, per Estadio Deportivo.
The Spanish midfielder has struggled for minutes since his move to the Eagles and the Liga club are said to be keen for him to move to a club where he will actually play.
It is not stated if a recall clause was included in the initial deal. If there wasn’t, there may have to be some negotiations over the possibility of the loan ending early.
Either way, it is clear that Palace haven’t utilised Camarasa properly.
The 25-year-old, who made 32 Premier League appearances for Cardiff City last season, has played just twice for the Eagles this term.
Watch Crystal Palace vs West Ham Live and Free with Amazon Prime on Boxing Day
Those appearances came against Colchester United in the Carabao Cup – where he played the 90 minutes – and Tottenham Hotspur in the league, where he played five minutes.
That is a pittance when it comes to actual game time. He has been on the bench in the last four outings and has been left out of the squad altogether eight times by manager Roy Hodgson.
Per WhoScored, though, he would be a good option in central midfield.
Did he really play for us?! No Palace fan has managed to name all of these obscure Eagles signings….
At Cardiff, he scored five league goals and also registered four assists.
He averaged 0.9 tackles per game and one interception, along with 0.8 clearances. Camarasa also averaged 1.6 key passes per game, 1.3 shots and 1.1 dribbles.
This is a player who has an awful lot of ability and is able to muck in at both ends of the pitch, but he simply hasn’t been allowed to show it at Palace.
One feels that they could use some help in the middle; they have averaged just 44.8% possession this season, the third-lowest in the league. Only Burnley and Newcastle United have had the ball less. Palace also rank 16th for pass success while they are dead last when it comes to shots per game. They average 9.5 and are the only team in the division in the single digits.
Bringing in a player with Camarasa’s creativity, then, makes all the sense in the world.
He could potentially improve Palace’s style of play purely by getting his foot on the ball and registering accurate passes while helping the club keep hold of possession.
They can’t really do much worse.
Meanwhile, Palace could sell a flop in January.
