Roy Hodgson has been working on a budget at Crystal Palace for some time which was exemplified by the £43.07m profit the Eagles made on transfers this summer. The former England boss has been squeezing the maximum out of minimal resources and this year has been no different with the likes of Jordan Ayew coming in for £2.52m, and going on to score eight Premier League goals. But he still has a long way to go if he is to eclipse the incredible value for money James McArthur has represented to the owners at Selhurst Park.
The 32-year-old Scot arrived from Wigan in 2014, after they were relegated from the Premier League, for the paltry sum of £7.92m, though that was a club-record fee at the time. The 32-cap Scottish international has gone on to make 188 Premier League appearances for the Eagles, behind only Wilfred Zaha’s 192, as he has established himself as a regular in south London. Furthermore, no player has participated in more wins for the Eagles than McArthur’s 67, highlighting the difference he makes to Roy Hodgson’s side when he is on the pitch.
Astonishingly, even though he is typically a ball-winning midfielder, the Scot is Crystal Palace’s sixth-highest Premier League goalscorer of all time, finding the back of the net on 17 occasions in the top-flight. Though he has failed to score this term, the 32-year-old is the Eagles’ leading provider having created three Premier League goals for teammates.
McArthur’s main competitor as Crystal Palace’s best value for money player is Zaha. But as an Eagles youth product, the club only technically bought him when they had to pay £3.42m for the Ivorian winger to rejoin after he was sold to Manchester United. He has gone on to be the Eagles’ all-time Premier League top-scorer by some margin with 35 strikes and has been a highly influential figure at Selhurst Park.
Considering he had no affiliation to the club prior to joining, McArthur has to be one of Palace’s best value buy’s in their history. He may have joined for a club-record figure at the time, but given he has gone on to rival arguably the greatest homegrown prospect Crystal Palace has possessed in the Premier League era, the Scot could hardly have been better value-for-money.
