July 13 2004

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace have snapped up Finnish international midfielder JOONAS KOLKKA from Borussia Monchengladbach.

The 29-year-old is a pacy left winger and the ideal replacement for Julian Gray, who joined Birmingham on a Bosman free last month.

Subject to a successful medical, KOLKKA will put pen to paper on a three-year-deal with Iain Dowie's side. Last season, he played 33 games for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring three goals.

He found himself out of favour after Monchengladbach switched to a 3-5-2 formation, which forced the wingers out of the side.

Director of Sport Christian Hochstätter said: "JOONAS KOLKKA knew that he would have problems this season, and asked if he could have his contract terminated so he could move on.

"We agreed and we sorted out the financial aspects and he was free to leave. Then Crystal Palace came in and he has left for them."

He has Champions League experience with PSV Eindhoven and helped them win the Dutch league title. He then moved onto Panathinaikos for £1.8m in 2001 and after two years in Greece, joined Borussia Mönchengladbach.

KOLKKA has 56 caps for Finland and 11 goals and will now link up with international team-mate Aki Riihilahti.

Meanwhile, Hungarian keeper Gábor Király is keen to sign for Palace but has some minor problems with the contract offered to him.