Former Crystal Palace forward Andros Townend is not expected to sign a new contract with the club following unsuccessful negotiations.

What's the story?

According to the Evening Standard, the 29-year-old was expected to remain at the capital club next season, but circumstances have now changed, and a return to Selhurst Park appears to be highly unlikely.

Townsend is currently a free agent following the expiration of his previous deal last month, although it was thought he'd follow in the footsteps of Christian Benteke by putting pen to paper on fresh terms with Palace.

Fans will be gutted

Although the former Tottenham Hotspur ace hasn’t fulfilled his early promise since swapping north London for south London back in 2016, bagging just 16 goals in 185 appearances for the Eagles, he still played a pivotal part in the club's success last season.

As per WhoScored, the former England international’s respectable haul of five Premier League assists was only bettered by the highly-rated Eberechi Eze, while the pair’s 1.1 shots per league game were the joint-third highest totals amongst their teammates.

Townsend’s tally of 1.2 key passes per league game was only bettered by Eze, while his 1.3 dribbles was the fourth-highest total when compared to his Palace colleagues.

However, constantly supplying the likes of Benteke and Wilfried Zaha with a stream of quality crosses is where the speed demon really excelled. He recorded 1.6 crosses per league match throughout 2020/21, far more than any of his teammates.

Townend's impressive performances once saw former Chelsea and Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas describe the direct winger as a “fearless player” who can “drive forward and produce great link-up play” which is a set of attributes that new manager Patrick Vieira would certainly have found useful.

Therefore, the Palace will surely be gutted that Townsend won't be returning to Selhurst Park over the 2021/22 campaign as they know he's a relatively consistent performer who understands the club and knows what it takes to be a success at Palace.

The ex-Nice boss has a tough job on his hands following the departures of several senior figures, and the reintroduction of the flying forward may have made Vieira's task significantly easier, but it looks like that will not happen now.

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