Palace are on the verge of signing Spain Under-20 star Jose Campaña. No, really! But what sort of player is he? We got the low down from Spanish football expert David Cartlidge.
Campaña's signing for Crystal Palace is certainly a coup, given the talent/ability of the player, reputation in Spain as seen by his recent captaining of Spain U-20 and the extremely low fee.
The deal does come with it's hazards though. Campaña, while being blessed with a lot of ability has failed to apply himself correctly at Sevilla. At a young age he was highly rated, and always played with groups at the club far older than him. The club placed a lot of responsibility on the player, and in turn he had issues dealing with it.
Off the field he had little focus, and the story exists he was prominent in nightclubs and such. So much so another played that got him into that scene, was moved out of the club. Sevilla offered Campaña the carrot though as opposed to the stick, with games and the odd first team call-up.
It failed to materialise for him however, and with a contract soon expiring with the player rejecting a new deal he's been allowed to leave. There is a lot of regret at Sevilla, for a player that promised so much but delivered nothing.
Campaña's a subtle, intelligent and technically gifted midfielder. He lacks pace and aggression in midfield but makes up for it in vision and technique. He's a classic organising midfielder, sitting ahead of the defensive midfielder but behind the attacking midfielder. He looks to control, move the ball into wide areas and stretch the field.
My issue with him has been his desire to want the ball, and dictate play. He needs to be more motivated, and want to take control of Palace's midfield. He has the attributes to do so, no doubt, but mentally there is a massive question mark.
Physicality is always an issue and he's not blessed in terms of power/strength/speed. He will look to outwit an opponent though, read the game quicker and move intelligently.
This is an exciting signing make no doubt, but don't expect moments of genius right away. The player will need to adapt, but moving away from Seville might just be the fresh outlook he needs. They didn't handle him right I don't think, at all.