Wanderers could turn to Chelsea striker after signing Crystal Palace defender

WANDERERS could add another two loan players to their collection before the window closes at the end of the month.

The club were last night putting the finishing touches to a deal for Crystal Palace defender Paddy McCarthy until the end of the season.

The Dubliner should go straight into contention for Wednesday night’s Lancashire derby with Blackburn Rovers, if selected.

But the indications are that Neil Lennon will look to free up some funds for at least one more new arrival – and that could well be Chelsea youngster Islam Feruz.

The 19-year-old signed a loan deal at struggling Blackpool in January but played just twice after failing to get into manager Lee Clark’s plans.

Lennon and his coaching staff know Somalia-born, Glasgow-raised Feruz from their time at Celtic where he played from the age of 10, going on to win youth honours with Scotland before moving to Stamford Bridge.

Feruz has yet to feature for Chelsea’s first team but has a regular for the club’s Under-21s, with Jose Mourinho keen to get him some more experience in the Championship after his nightmarish spell at Bloomfield Road.

He could be seen as a replacement for Zach Clough, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder suffered in the 1-1 draw with Reading on Tuesday night.

Having already signed Giles Coke from Sheffield Wednesday, Lennon faces a tricky task juggling all the loan players in his squad at once when his side make the short trip to Ewood Park after the weekend.

The Wanderers boss can currently play just five of Coke, Simeon Slavchev, Barry Bannan, Rochinha, Ben Amos, Saidy Janko and Adam Le Fondre, although an eighth loanee, Kevin McNaughton has also been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

McCarthy would make it nine, leaving Lennon with some big choices to make as he plugs the gaps left by injuries to his regular squad.

One undoubted success on the loan front has been striker Le Fondre, who has found a new lease of life at Wanderers since arriving from Cardiff City.

“I’m really enjoying my time here,” he said. “It’s really reinvigorated me.
“The manager is a big reason for it because he gives me so much belief.

“I think that has really shown in my performances.”

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Islam Feruz is another one I don't know much about. Tough job trying to fit in all these loanees when you can only pick 5 on match day. I've heard of clubs having a bit of bad luck with injuries but this is getting ridiculous now.

Sluffy wrote:The 19-year-old signed a loan deal at struggling Blackpool in January but played just twice after failing to get into manager Lee Clark’s plans.

He sounds ace.

He's actually a really good player - fast, skillful dribbler with a decent shot. I have no idea why he couldn't make a Blackpool side which is quite shit.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Sluffy wrote:The 19-year-old signed a loan deal at struggling Blackpool in January but played just twice after failing to get into manager Lee Clark’s plans.

He sounds ace.

As did harry Kane during his loan at Norwich. Look at him now the shithouse

Boggersbelief wrote:

As did harry Kane during his loan at Norwich. Look at him now the shithouse

Are you trying to compare Norwich with Blackpool?

Fool.

Sometimes you need some players around you. Look at Alfie and Bannan - they have looked the part since signing but were allowed to go on loan.

The fact Neil already knows this guy from his Celtic days and rates him suggests that Blackpool didn't use him properly. Add in that the tangerines have been woeful all season and are desperately low on confidence and it's not hard to see why a single player can't turn their fortunes around single handedly. 

If Neil thinks the lad's worth having then that's good enough for me. I'm certain the manager knows a lot more about young Mr Feruz than we do and already has a role envisioned for him.