When Vicente Guaita joined Crystal Palace on a free in the summer of 2018 not a good deal was known about him bar the basics of his C.V.Those familiar with La Liga were aware that the 6ft 3 keeper played for Valencia for a long spell though rarely was he established as first choice. An appearance at Old Trafford in the Champions League back in 2010 may have rung a faint bell but that really was it.A move to Getafe followed and there he largely excelled in a turbulent era that saw promotions and relegations to and from the Spanish top flight before he headed to England at the seasoned age of 31, principally to act as back-up to Wayne Hennessey.

It was a move that dipped below the radar because we had a lot going on that window what with Riyad Mahrez heading to Manchester City and Naby Keita finally joining Liverpool.

In truth not only was not a good deal known about Vicente Guaita but not many beyond Selhurst Park cared enough to find out.

With Roy Hodgson’s men shipping in goals the Spaniard was given his Premier League debut halfway through last season and immediately kept a clean sheet at home to Leicester before holding a rampant Manchester City at bay sufficiently for his side to emerge from the Etihad with a famous 3-2 win.

His third game brought another shut-out and as his impact continued into the spring so it became more and more apparent that Guaita was Hodgson’s go-to number one and furthermore Palace had landed an absolute gem.

“We knew what we were signing,” the delighted Palace boss said in March as a CIES Football Observatory algorithm revealed that the veteran stopper had outperformed De Gea, Alisson and Ederson since the start of the year.

This term the Eagles boast the fourth meanest defence in the Premier League and so much of that is down to the safe hands and agility of Guaita whose form is only on an upward curve. According to WhoScored, he was the stand-out goalkeeper across December with a virtuoso performance against Brighton the pick of the bunch while another excellent display at Turf Moor recently earned glowing praise from his gaffer: “He’s proved to be unbelievably reliable,” the former England manager cooed.

“We’re delighted to have him.”

Twitter number-crunchers meanwhile have regularly trumpeted Guaita’s class.

All of which naturally has led to increasing speculation as to the keeper’s future, with Manchester City reportedly keen to secure his services next summer as a replacement for the departing, disappointing Claudio Bravo, per Daily Mail. West Ham too are interested according to Spanish outlet AS (via Hammers News) getting in touch with the player’s representatives as their goalkeeping situation remains dire.

The latter report goes on to state that Guaita is happy in south London and has no intention of leaving, especially to a new employer where he would most likely revert back to inhabiting the bench.

Did he really play for us?! No Palace fan has managed to name all of these obscure Eagles signings....

Frankly, who can blame him. At Palace everything is going so well with a reputation soaring and a team on the up.

With Vicente Guaita routinely proving he is one of the best in his business, it really is time we took note of his ability.