It would take the height of desperation for a club to take on Emmanuel Adebayor. Luckily for him, Crystal Palace is just such a club. The striker, who is known these days as much for his capriciousness and cupidity as he is for his skill, has signed on to see out the rest of the season with the Eagles, undoubtedly causing many to do a double take.

After all, few players ever manage to alienate as many top clubs as Adebayor. Finding himself up for grabs, it has surprised no one that no one grabbed him up at all. He has had the door slammed in his face at Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham. Quite a run.

At least until Palace, who have finally offered him a place. And what is perhaps most shocking of all about the decision is the fact it is potentially a very good one.

First, consider the position the team is in. Palace are currently on a run to rival dismal Manchester United. A Palace player has not scored a goal in the Premier League since Dec. 19 in a 2-1 victory over Stoke. From early hopefuls for Champions League, they have drifted so far that a top 10 finish now seems the priority. In short, they need goals, and Adebayor has been known to provide them.

Though he has a real knack at creating bad blood at clubs, Adebayor also has a history of sparking into life when the doors open to a new opportunity. He seems to enjoy a new challenge; he just bores easily. At City, he had 14 league goals in 26 games in his first year. At Tottenham, he had 17 in 33. While he rarely bothers to rise to those levels, his career shows a back and forth that Palace should consider encouraging. Adebayor often trades off between big years and poor ones. At Tottenham, his goal totals went 18, 8, 14, 2. That would suggest this is another big year. Palace are right to at least give him a shot.

Even if he doesn’t fire, having a known quality striker — at least when he feels like it — will free up more space for other players to get back into form. Yohan Cabaye has proved he has the ability to really shine on this side and taking a little pressure off might be just what he needs. Meanwhile, having another scoring option would give injured Bakary Sako and Yannick Bolasie the time they need to really get fit.

So, Adebayor could well prove a solid investment, just so long as Alan Pardew doesn’t take him too seriously. He obviously has the talent, but like Mario Balotelli, his attitude often costs more than his skill pays for. That’s why Palace would be wise to practice a catch and release policy with the mercurial forward. Give him the rest of the season to create a little offense, and then leave him to drift off again to the next desperate club.

Judging by the contract they’ve offered him, that seems to be the plan exactly.