CRYSTAL Palace manager Ian Holloway could be on the brink of signing a mysterious out of contract French player.

The Eagles supremo was tight lipped on the identity of the man in question today, but was prepared to reveal he was French.

A potential deal is made much easier by the fact the player in question is a free agent but Holloway admits it is attitude more than anything which will determine whether a contract is offered.

He said: “I’ve seen him, I don’t know that much about him.

“We’ve got someone who has not actually signed a contract, so I’ve got to make my mind up by tomorrow.

“Part of him I really like, the other part of him I could shake to the core of his soul and say ‘what is wrong with you?’ and grab him by the shirt collars and say ‘come on you’.

“He can definitely change things and win things on his own if he wants to bother, so I’m having a think about it because that won’t count as another loan but he will have to be good enough.

“He is certainly good in one aspect, is he good in the other?

“Will he add to this group? Will he make us believe with his desire and with his running and wanting to do it?”

Holloway is no stranger to taking on unwanted players during his managerial career, a point he readily acknowledged.

“That’s all I’ve ever done all my life – got hold of something that somebody doesn’t want, polished it up and then other people want it,” the Selhurst chief said.

“It is whether I can do that now and in this short period of time and whether he would buckle down and understand enough.

“My brother speaks French, so I could bring him in, I think Wilf does as well.”

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