Palace boss Iain Dowie has ended three weeks of transfer frustration by finally capturing Hungarian international striker Sandor Torghelle.

After months of speculation the 22-year-old becomes Palace's fifth signing of the summer, although both the fee and length of contact remain undisclosed.

The signing of the powerful MTK Budapest hitman comes as a major boost for Dowie especially with the news that Palace skipper Neil Shipperley will miss the start of the Premiership campaign.

Torghelle came to prominence on the European stage after scoring a brace against Germany in a pre-Euro 2004 friendly, which took his international total to three goals in seven games.

The highly-rated star could make his debut for Palace in their friendly clash against Sampdoria on Saturday at Selhurst Park, subject to international clearance.

The news comes as a relief for Dowie after his transfer activity has frozen in recent weeks since the signings of Julian Speroni, Mark Hudson, Emmerson Boyce and Joonas Kolkka, but Dowie is confident Torghelle will not be the only new face at Selhurst Park by next week.

Dowie said: "It continues to be very, very busy, everyday one or two things are getting closer so it's a case of believing that one or two situations will hopefully resolve themselves this week, until we do it's a case of battling with what we've got."

The Palace boss believes that if the club can get some notable early victories in the league together with pulling off a coup (or two) in the transfer market before the August 31 transfer deadline, it will not only enhance the ability of his squad but will increase the appeal of the club.

Dowie said: "We are aware that we are in a section of the league and it's obviously in the bottom phase of it. So what we have to do is make sure we buy players which are better than the bottom phase, so they can take us up.

"What will help is if you get a few results and bring people to the club which I think is the key, maybe one or two signature signings will help with that, which is hopefully something we will try and do."

With Palace's league campaign starting at Carrow Road next Saturday, time is running out for Dowie to reinforce his small squad and he feels the size of his coaching staff is a reason behind the long wait for more signings.

He said: "You can't go from being a side which is maybe on the verge of relegation to then having a European scouting network because you're in the Premier League, it just doesn't happen.

"We are not blessed with massive staff here, you look at other clubs like Bolton, a Premier League club where their staff base is huge, so you've got to get on with it and deal with the agents."