Patrick Vieira has begun his Premier League managerial career rather well, leading Crystal Palace to a 12th place finish last season, along with an FA Cup semi-final appearance, losing 2-0 to Chelsea.

It marked the club’s most successful league campaign since 2018/2019 and it looks like the Frenchman has managed to get the best out of his side and has spent wisely in the transfer window.

The same can't be said of some of his predecessors, however, with a variety of big money flops arriving at Selhurst Park over the previous few years, with the likes of Christian Benteke (£32m) and Mamadou Sakho (£26m) draining the London sides coffers.

The Frenchman in particular ended up becoming a colossal waste of money and couldn’t turn the potential he had while making a name for himself at PSG in regular solid performances for Palace.

Over his five-and-a-half-year spell at the club, having joined on loan in January 2017 before signing permanently in September, he made 75 appearances and scored just once.

The 29-cap French international started off brightly at the Eagles, averaging a rating of 7.07 as per WhoScored, but his average soon started declining incrementally over the next four seasons with ratings of 6.81, 6.72, 6.24, and 6.06 respectively.

His appearances also decreased the longer he spent at Palace featuring a combined 18 times during his final two seasons, and overall, he cost the club £350k per match.

Journalist Alex Richards once described the player as “dreadful” and over five and a half seasons, he rarely lived up to his massive £26m price tag.

In 2021, Sakho ended his stint in England by signing for Ligue 1 club Montpellier on a three-year deal and has played 35 matches for the club in the French top-flight already, having just joined at the beginning of last season.

Vieira certainly looks like he won’t make much if any, similar blunders during his stint at Palace, and with the club In a good place, he could be set for a long stay in London.