Crystal Palace’s summer of doubt is prolonged into the preseason by UEFA delays.
Crystal Palace’s players will return this week for pre-season training, but it is still unknown which European tournament they will participate in next season.
At Palace, there will be disappointment over UEFA’s choice to wait until Lyon’s appeal against their relegation to Ligue 2 before deciding whether or not to admit Palace into the Europa League, which might complicate preparations for the upcoming season. The day for that appeal to be heard has yet to be set.
As a result of this uncertainty, the Palace is currently in a state of quasi-stasis. There is no sense of alarm, and it is not a crisis, but there is uncertainty about the new effort.
The squad with whom former sporting director Dougie Freedman collaborated is still mostly in place, and a lot of the planning for this summer will have been completed in advance, but a successor has yet to be named for him since he left in March.
Iain Moody, who has been a consultant for the team for many years and has collaborated closely with Freedman, is supervising the work alongside Ben Stevens, Freedman’s assistant. Moody has primarily worked in the negotiation of new and existing players rather than in the discovery of new talent.
The late transfer activity and disrupted pre-season in terms of players coming back from international competitions have repeatedly been mentioned by manager Oliver Glasner as issues for his preparations. He thought it was a major factor in Palace’s sluggish beginning to the previous season, during which they went eight Premier League games without a victory.
Following the FA Cup semi-final victory over Aston Villa, chairman Steve Parish informed reporters that the team was determined to prevent a recurrence of the chaos that occurred during the previous summer. After the cup final victory over Manchester City, Parish stated that the team must meet Glasner’s aspiration.
“We’re attempting to do what we can this season to have a better pre-season and not repeat some of the errors we made again (where four players arrived on transfer deadline day),” he stated.
The continued delay in determining if Palace will participate in the Europa League or be relegated to the Conference League may now be hindered by the potential conflict caused by the multi-club project Eagle Football, via its principal owner John Textor, holding large stakes in both Palace and Lyon.
The two events will have distinct financial consequences, which might also be a factor.
Palace has consistently aimed for a profile of players that includes young, talented individuals with a lot of potential who can make a contribution right away but may eventually be sold on for a profit. Compared to the European tournament where Palace is competing, the Premier League is more appealing to those players.
To fill Dean Henderson’s place and compete for the top spot, they have already signed goalkeeper Walter Benitez. However, with the Argentinian out of contract at PSV this summer, Palace had planned that transaction for a while.
As a result, it has a greater chance of influencing possible departures than incoming transfers. The situation of Marc Guehi, the club captain, is the least clear, as he is out of contract next summer and has not yet signaled his intention to sign a new one. Offers for him are anticipated to come this summer, and there is interest in him.
If Palace were to participate in the more prestigious Europa League, they might hope to convince him to sign a new deal with the team, let him showcase his talent on the highest platform, and then let him depart with their blessing the following summer.
That would be analogous to the scenario that occurred with Michael Olise, who, after signing a new contract with a release clause, moved to Bayern Munich a year later in a transfer that brought Palace £50 million ($68.6 million).
Similarly, Jean-Philippe Mateta has aspirations of representing France, a possibility he believes is much increased by competing in a European league. He too could have offers this summer from teams competing in the Europa League after a fantastic 18 months, during which time he has scored 27 league goals since Glasner’s arrival in February of last year.
Eberechi Eze, who still has two years remaining on his contract, may be less impacted by where Palace will be playing next season. In addition to being anticipated to draw offers this summer, his future is more contingent on playing in the Conference League than in the Europa League.
None of this is useful for Palace, however, and it can have a knock-on effect on the near future of some of their younger players who are on the periphery of the first squad.
The players will keep their attention on getting back to the physical conditioning necessary for the intensity. Glasner makes this request at the start of their preparations for the upcoming season, but he doesn’t want anything to distract them, no matter how little.
The excitement of their FA Cup triumph lingers for the supporters, but it runs the risk of being somewhat diminished by the agonizing wait and uncertainty. They should have spent the summer celebrating their most successful Premier League season and their first big victory.
Although the wait might not totally tie Palace’s hands, it’s still an unpleasant distraction in a summer that should have been full of anticipation for their European experience.
