Steve Parish and Crystal Palace have now set their sights on a new 41-year-old target to replace Dougie Freedman, according to Sky Sports.
Crystal Palace begin search to replace Freedman
It was announced on Monday evening that Freedman would be leaving his role as Palace’s sporting director to take up a role overseas, which is believed to be in Saudi Arabia. The Scot has held that role since 2017, during which he worked across all areas of football for the first team and the academy.
Freedman was at the heart of the club’s recent success in the transfer window, with him being a part of the team that brought the likes of Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Adam Wharton, and Dean Henderson to the club. But his time at Selhurst Park is now over, and the club’s search for his replacement has already begun, with it being reported on Tuesday that Parish is eyeing up a move to bring Iain Moody back to the club.
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Crystal Palace to make controversial move as Parish eyes Freedman successor
The Eagles could be about to bring a former employee to the club as a replacement for Dougie Freedman.
This could be seen as a controversial decision, should a deal go though, as Moody was sporting director at Palace for 11 months between 2013 and 2014 before he resigned after he allegedly sent racist, homophobic, and sexist text messages to Malky Mackay, who he had worked with at Cardiff City before moving to Palace.
Crystal Palace set sights on new 41 y/o to replace Freedman
But the Eagles and Parish are keeping their options open, and according to Sky Sports, Crystal Palace are also interested in Middlesbrough’s Kieran Scott to replace Freedman.
Sky Sports states that as well as Scott being of interest to Palace, they are also interested in Moody and Brentford’s Lee Dykes. Scott is currently working as Boro’s head of football and has been since September 2021. The 41-year-old has been at the heart of Middlesbrough’s change in recruitment and has been the driving force behind their general transformation in recent years.
Interest in Scott comes as the Eagles are currently keeping an eye on a few Boro players ahead of the summer transfer window. Midfielder Hayden Hackney is a player that Palace are very much interested in and are now considering making a move to sign him. Meanwhile, Rav van den Berg is a player who has emerged on their radar in recent weeks, and winger Ben Doak, who is on loan from Liverpool, has also caught the eye of the South Londoners.
Scott has proven to be a smart operator when it comes to transfers, as he helped Boro sign players like Morgan Rogers and Emmanuel Latte Lath, who were a success at the Riverside Stadium and then have gone on to leave, making the club a lot of money in terms of transfer money. Palace may like him to be able to do a similar job should he arrive at Selhurst Park, making this one to watch.
