Crystal Palace have worked wonders in the transfer window since Patrick Vieira was appointed manager in the summer of 2021.

Steve Parish gave the Frenchman some excellent backing during his first transfer window in charge as the club brought in Odsonne Edouard, Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, and Marc Guehi to great success, finishing 12th in the Premier League while also reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

This summer saw Chris Richards, Sam Johnstone and Cheick Doucoure as the main additions to the Eagles' squad.

However, it appears that Parish might have made a rare blunder by missing out on a proven goalscorer who could have improved Palace's starting XI…

Parish had a rare howler with Toney

This summer, the south Londoners were linked with a move for Brentford striker Ivan Toney, with the Bees putting a £40m price tag on his head to deter any potential suitors.

He joined the west London outfit from Peterborough United in 2020, having scored 49 goals in just 94 appearances for the Posh, and his rich scoring form didn’t stop when he made the step up to the second tier.

Toney was instrumental in helping Brentford to achieve promotion to the Premier League for the first time, contributing with 33 goals in 48 matches as they won the Championship play-offs. If anyone doubted whether the Englishman could cut it in the top flight, he duly proved them wrong by helping his side to a solid 13th-placed finish, scoring 12 league goals in the process.

It looks like Parish has had an absolute howler here, especially when you consider just how well Toney has started the current campaign.

The 26-year-old has a hugely impressive rating of 7.5 on SofaScore, having netted five goals and grabbed two assists already. Furthermore, the striker has created an additional four big chances, along with making 1.7 key passes and taking 2.5 shots per match, earning him a first England call-up during the week.

These figures show that Toney is performing at an incredibly high level and proves that he isn’t all about scoring goals, with the player looking to create opportunities for others.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank described him as “magnificent” following his performance against Leeds United recently, and with Palace only scoring seven goals in six league matches so far this term, they could have done with Toney to improve their attacking threat. Vieira must be devastated that the Eagles missed out on signing the Bees predator over the summer.