There was some surprise when Crystal Palace splashed out a sizeable fee on Brazilian talent Matheus Franca this summer, and he has hardly been seen.
The 19-year-old has played just 31 minutes of senior football since joining for £26m from Brazilian side Flamengo this summer, as the attacking midfielder seemingly arrived as a replacement for Wilfried Zaha.
He initially started the season injured before making two cameo appearances, but he has been an unused substitute in Palace’s last two games, with Roy Hodgson perhaps not ready to trust him yet.
Questions have already been raised about the transfer and whether it was a good use of funds given what Palace needed, and until he features further to try and prove himself, these doubts will remain.
Matheus Franca to feature for Crystal Palace under-21s
Journalist Edmund Brack has now revealed that the teenager will appear for Crystal Palace under-21s tonight as they take on Stevenage in the EFL Trophy.
Franca started and played 78 minutes against Wimbledon in one of the previous rounds, and will now feature again as he aims to build his fitness up.
Matheus Franca’s difficult situation at Crystal Palace
Franca’s lack of game time has not been helped by the fact that he was harshly criticised by Hodgson after his last appearance, and the manager clearly does not have faith that he is ready to be a starter any time soon.
This does beg the question of why big money was spent on a raw talent rather than someone who could replace Zaha immediately. Franca has taken Zaha’s shirt number but has not been trusted to even attempt to replace his output.
The £40k-a-week attacker may be a big talent, and could evolve into a top player for Palace, but given Hodgson’s insistence on the here-and-now, as well as Franca’s lack of fitness and need to adapt to new surroundings, this was never going to be a signing which would have an immediate impact.
It will be interesting to see how Franca plays tonight. If he can impress in the academy side and in training during the international break, he may force his way into Hodgson’s thinking for the next match against Luton Town.
