Crystal Palace have reportedly agreed terms with Danish side FC Midtjylland for Chilean winger Darío Osorio on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy for a fee of €26m + €4m in ad ons, and Palace will pay a €2m loan fee for the winger.

Deadline day saw a back and forth between Palace and Sunderland for Malick Fofana, and after eight hours, Fofana finally decided that Sunderland was the right move for him. However, Palace may have got the better winger in Osorio.

Osorio has been on Palace’s radar for a long period of time and is a target of former Sporting Director Dougie Freedman. If all add ons are met, then Osorio would become the record sale from the Danish top flight. 

So what can Palace fans expect from Osorio and how could he fit into Pierre Sage’s squad? 

Osorio is a 22y/o right winger who graduated from the academy of Chilean side Universidad de Chile and was signed by FC Midtjylland for €5.2m three summers ago. 

He’s played 25 times for the Chilean national team in his short career, scoring three times. He’s a left-footed right winger who has been a key figure for MIdtjylland in his three seasons with the club. 

In that time, Osorio has registered 24 goals in 98 games, also notching 14 assists in that time too. 

A direct, progressive winger who is comfortable either cutting inside or taking the ball wide, Osorio could be an exciting addition to Sage’ squad. Palace have been following Osorio since his time in Chile, and have tracked his development ever since, finally looking to pull the trigger now.

Osorio looks to be a truly exceptional talent and one who could make a huge difference for Pierre Sage and Crystal Palace. At an extremely basic level, he’s an electric, forward thinking and clinical forward player. 

His confidence in possession is remarkable and he has absolutely no fear when taking players on. A mixture of fast footwork and direct running, with a sprinkling of intelligent hip movement, sees him ease beyond defenders. 

The ability that he has to play off both feet makes him unpredictable, and gives him endless options when progressing with the ball. His crossing ability from wide areas is strong, and Osorio often uses his pace to get to the goal line before cutting back either driven or lofted crosses with accuracy. 

Alternatively, he can cut inside onto his left foot, and this is where he is often so deadly. His ball striking ability is possibly one of his strongest attributes. Whether he is curling well-placed efforts towards the far corner or drilling powerful efforts into the corners, the range of ball-striking that Darío Osorio showcases is truly exciting. 

His composure in front of goal is not necessarily what you expect from a 22y/o, and he appears to have a range of creative finishing which allows him to score goals from all sorts of positions. 

This graph from the brilliant Spencer Mossman has been doing the rounds on social media and demonstrates the level of player Palace are signing here. 

The information also detailed that Osorio kept similar company to the likes of Michael Olise, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Abde Ezzalzouli in terms of progressive actions and creative numbers, three of the most influential wingers in world football. 

The graph below plots players based on their total shots and progressive actions, and as you can see only Lamine Yamal stands out ahead of Osorio and the players named above. 

He’s operated consistently either as a right winger or more predominantly a right wing-back for Mitdjylland, which explains why his output is not significantly high in terms of g/a numbers. 

This is a signing that Palace fans should be excited about. Yes, it was disappointing to miss out on Malick Fofana, but by many accounts Osorio is the brighter prospect, and Palace may have hit gold with this signing.