Crystal Palace are reportedly interested in signing Aston Villa striker Danny Ings this month and the prolific forward could help Patrick Vieira turn the Eagles' fortunes around.

According to The Sun, Palace are set to rival Everton for the former England international, who has found game time hard to come by under new manager Unai Emery at Villa Park.

The 30-year-old would join the Villans from Southampton in a deal worth £25m in the summer of 2021 but has struggled to replicate his impressive form on the south coast with his new side, managing just 14 goals and eight assists in 51 appearances for the Midlands club.

However, his previous spells with Burnley, Liverpool and Southampton suggest that he could be the man to end Palace's woes in front of goal, as he has more than 100 league goals to his name, with 68 of those coming in the top flight.

While last season was ultimately a disappointing one for Ings in front of goal, he would still manage seven goals and six assists in the Premier League, which was more than every player in Vieira's squad bar Wilfried Zaha.

He also has six goals in just eight Premier League starts so far this campaign, which again is better than most at Selhurst Park have managed, with Zaha having also hit six in the top flight.

The last out-and-out striker to hit double figures and finish as Palace's top scorer in the Premier League was Christian Benteke in 2016/17 which suggests that the Eagles have been reliant on Zaha for far too long and need to recruit a Premier League-proven goalscorer such as Ings.

Noel Whelan was full of praise for the Villa man when speaking to Football Insider last season, describing him as a "phenomenal finisher" and it's that sort of ability that could finally see the Eagles' striker curse ended.

Indeed, the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Alexander Sorloth and Connor Wickham have all failed to deliver the goods at Selhurst Park across recent seasons and in Ings, Vieira could sign a striker who he trusts can find the back of the net on a regular basis, as was emphasised by his 22 goals for Southampton in the 2019/20 season.

Therefore, Vieira should definitely look to bring the £5.3m-rated Ings to Selhurst Park this month in the hope that he can break Palace's recent striker hoodoo and fire the Eagles back up the Premier League table after some shocking recent results.