Former Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has said that Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah has been on the club's radar for years and thinks the striker would be a hit at Selhurst Park.
The 22-year-old has found playing time hard to come by at the Emirates this season and has less than six months left on his deal in north London.
This has meant several clubs have been interested in securing his signature, with Palace reportedly one of the teams interested in signing the centre-forward.
Hodgson, who managed the Eagles for four seasons until leaving last summer, was a guest on Sky Sports' Transfer Show on Friday night where he discussed Nketiah and what he could bring to the south Londoners were they to make a move for him this month.
"He's a player that's been on the radar for a number of years let alone months," said the former England boss.
"He's a player who I know everyone at the club admires very much and I think he's the right type of player that Patrick [Vieira] might be interested in - a forward of his type.
"Someone who is very quick and makes a lot of runs in behind. They've got very tall centre-forwards they can build play through.
"I can imagine him being exactly the type of player that Patrick Vieira would like because he'd know a lot about him because I'm sure his contacts at Arsenal are still very good. He'll know a lot about him as a person as well."
Hodgson was also joined on the show by former Palace player and now pundit Clinton Morrison, who said Nketiah would offer Vieira a different option to what he currently has at Selhurst Park.
"Palace have got a lot of exciting forward options, if you look through the middle where Nketiah wants to play you've got Benteke, Edouard and Mateta," said the 42-year-old.
"Nketiah is a different kind of striker to all of those, he's an out and out goalscorer.
"If you've got the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Michael Olise, Ebere Eze and Conor Gallagher making chances for Nketiah he'll come alive.
"In and around the six-yard box I think Palace are missing someone who can get the scrappy goals. I think it would be a really good signing if they could pull that off."
Palace were originally thought not to be interested in making any signings during the January transfer window but due to rising Covid-19 cases Vieira now says they are looking to boost their ranks.
The Eagles have had several players miss matches due to contracting the virus which has left them short of a full matchday squad for their last three Premier League matches.
With Zaha, Jordan Ayew and Cheikhou Kouyate all away at the Africa Cup of Nations it leaves the Eagles even further stretched, which Vieira said meant the club were doing what they could to improve the squad this month.
