SAKA, ANTONY AND 10 PREMIER LEAGUE STARS HEADING TO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP
When Crystal Palace signed Max Meyer on August 2nd 2018, the excitement levels around south London were almost tangible.
A highly-rated midfield maestro, with four caps for Germany under his belt, had arrived at Selhurst Park for nothing.
This was a playmaker who inherited the No.7 shirt from the iconic Raúl at Schalke 04, and one who had already gained Champions League experience at a very young age.
To further emphasise Meyer’s pedigree, he was dubbed the ‘German Messi’ at 17 years of age, amid links to Arsenal and Chelsea as the Evening Standard state.
In this respect, us Crystal Palace fans deserve to know what went wrong.
How could the 25-year-old go from having such hype surrounding him, to not even being able to dislodge James McCarthy in Roy Hodgson’s pecking order?
In two-and-a-half years with the Eagles, Meyer started just 21 Premier League games.
Amid times this season where the Oberhausen-born man wasn’t even selected on the bench, his name almost never popped up in press conferences.
Since he was released from his contract in January, it almost feels as if his stint in SE25 was nothing more than a mirage, a hallucinatory experience which didn’t even happen.
Meyer wasted a big chunk of his career, the Selhurst Park faithful were robbed of seeing a fine talent don the red and blue stripes, and most annoyingly, nobody knows why.
Hodgson’s treatment of the German certainly wasn’t normal, and the ex-England manager needs to inform supporters of the truth behind Meyer’s exile.