Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner says his squad has been unsettled by transfer activity this week as he targets at least two more signings before next Friday’s deadline.
On Friday Palace sold defender Joachim Andersen to Fulham for up to £30million and forward Jordan Ayew to Leicester City for a fee of £5m with a further £3m in add-ons, while Andersen’s centre-back partner and new club captain Marc Guehi has been the subject of four failed bids from Newcastle United.
The situation around those transfers and Guehi’s potential departure has caused consternation among the camp at Palace’s training ground, Glasner revealed, with his players unable to completely block out the speculation.
“Every manager would like the transfer window to close before the first game,” he said. “We’ve tried to focus on football. We analysed the game at Brentford and it was a clear message and then we tried to transform it on the pitch.
“It was quite noisy (this week) and we tried to build a shield around us, but we’re all human and you can’t make it so that you don’t hear the noise. It had a little bit of influence, but we’ve tried to focus on the pitch.
“But there were some heavy hits on the shield. Sometimes we were a little bit shaken and, but during the training today the feeling changed and, and that’s why I’m now smiling because the players gave me a very good feeling that they can deal with everything that happened and that they are ready for a tough game against West Ham (on Saturday).
Joachim Andersen left Palace on Friday to rejoin Fulham (Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
“Sometimes there is a little bit of uncertainty, clarity is the best you can have in life. It is a topic that is not finally solved and you always have it somewhere in your mind. Maybe you forget it for a couple of hours but then you lay on your sofa in the evening and it comes again. It is the same here, we have some uncertainties until the end of the window, some question marks in our head and this influences us.
“The players are really great and dealing with it and this is like we all are. Some days it is better, some days it is not so good. It shows they care about their teammates, worry about the team and think about Crystal Palace. This shows we have fantastic players in terms of their personality and character. Others say: ‘I don’t worry if he leaves, I still take my money’. Here is a different mindset and this is what I appreciate and why we give our energy to support them.”
With Michael Olise having departed for Bayern Munich in a deal which provides Palace with around £50m, the squad is now lacking significant depth, having seen seven departures in total and three new arrivals in centre-back Chadi Riad and forwards Ismaila Sarr and Daichi Kamada.
Glasner acknowledges the need for new arrivals and says he would like more additions to his squad before the window closes next Friday.
“We have Jes and David on loan, we didn’t extend Jairo (Riedewald) and (James) Tomkins and we sold two. We’ve lost seven and brought in three. It doesn’t mean we need four more but it’s clear we have to get at least two more players into the squad.”
He suggested that he does not expect any further departures given the small size of his squad but if there are to be any then the decision will be made with the players’ input and no one will be forced to leave.
Chadi Riad is one of just three arrivals at Selhurst Park this summer (Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
“I expect everyone to be a Crystal Palace player until someone tells me something different.
“Especially the player, because it’s always their decision. So yes, I expect him (Guehi), I expect everyone here, because we now have 18 players with (Matheus) Franca injured.
“We know that if we lose one or two players we also have to replace them, because we need a competitive squad over (the remaining) 37 Premier League games.”
“No deal will happen if the player doesn’t say yes. Every player here will say ‘I want to be part of this group and journey’. If a player says ‘I should leave’ for whatever reason – it’s not the right club for me and I’d like to change something’ it’s up to him and the club to find a solution.
“I want players who want to be part of Crystal Palace. If they say I can imagine leaving if Crystal Palace find an agreement with another club then it makes no sense to say ‘no you are not allowed to go’ if they want.”
(Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
