Summer 26 Transfer Window Preview

Today the transfer window opens! Lets breakdown what could or should happen ...

At the end of this season, Palace only stayed up by six points. In the second half of the season, Palace only beat Brighton, Wolves, Spurs, and Newcastle. Playing in the Europa League will be tougher. Still be facing some low blocks, but depending on the draw, less travel as league phase teams are more likely to be from Western or Central Europe. A new manager with maybe more rotation. Last season in the league phase, we didn’t have enough depth, but that got better for the knockout phase.

Europa League

UEFA squad rules work differently from the Premier League. The 25-player ‘A’ list needs to have four Palace-trained players and four more England-trained players. To be a trained player from ages 15 to 21, having had three seasons at the club or in the nation. Players from ‘B’ squad can play in UEFA, but they were born after 1 January 2005 and have been at the club for 2 seasons. Jaydee Canvot would be able to join that list 27-28 season but has been in the ‘A’ list next season. Palace can register as many players as they like to the ‘B’ squad.

For England-trained players, Palace has plenty of those. Palace's trained players are an issue as Palace has got Mitchell and Clyne that would also be able to be added to the ‘B’ list. Palace can make up for the smaller group of ‘A’ players with lots of decent ‘B’ players to add depth.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

A Palace-trained player who is looking for a new club. This is a free spot on the ‘A’ squad. More of a defensive option, and he left Palace too soon. I would love to see him back. I am expecting Munoz to stay, so it’s difficult to sell to Aaron to come to Palace to be the rotation option. It’s a rotation with the Europa League. At the same time, is Aaron too expensive for Palace to be 2nd choice?

Wilf Zaha

No chance, that chapter is closed. Just mentioning it as he is Palace-trained.

Rotation

In the knockout phase, had good amount of options. Looking at the last season squad list, plus the players on loan in the championship. That listing is too large for Europa. If Rak-Sakyi, Clyne, and Mitchell were in the squad. That would leave Palace with 21 spots to allocate. From this list, we would need to remove three players that is before any incomings or outgoings. At the moment, I would include Esse, Imray, and Devenny in the Europa squad. I think Palace needs to keep this in mind, as we could end up with senior players who cannot play in Europa.

Weak spots

I would be up for taking a risk with Cardines. Unfortunately, he was injured last season before Muñoz was injured. He would have gotten more minutes. He had a good game against Arsenal, but it’s hard to judge as where on party mode. Palace could bring in a loan player and loan out Cardines. But I wouldn’t if Cardines is injured or has some bad form; then use Muñoz instead. He is a beast and could play twice a week. Or Johnson could cover in that role.

Center backs, if we are keeping three at the back. I think we need an extra head. I can see the argument that having Clyne or Lerma as the 5th choice center back is a risk. A safe choice may not want to sign up to be the 5th or 6th choice. This could be a player who poses a risk. Canvot wasn’t expected to be this good. Generally good at signing defenders recently.

Sosa

I don’t think he deserves some of the criticism he gets. He can deliver a good ball into the box. My preference for a wing back is a player who can bomb it down the wing and not get tired. It might be worth letting him go and finding another player.

Ozoh

Counts as ‘B’ squad player. Played 43 games in the championship for Derby. The 2nd 11 depth chart could be changed with Ozoh playing ahead of Doucouré. With Doucouré's injury issues might not be a good idea to have him on the depth chart and hope he will get back to playing.

Contracts

Kamada

He has been offered a contract. I wonder what’s going to happen. He hasn’t rejected and also not signed it. He might have been waiting to find out the new manager before signing up. Or just wanted to see which other teams would make an offer. He may want to see where Glasner ends up, but it’s worth mentioning he went to Lazio. He doesn’t just play for him.

Clyne

From the retained list press releases, “discussions are continuing with the defender”. It’s handy from a Palace-trained player. Hopefully he is there for vibes, coach on the pitch and isn’t needed for many minutes.

Hot targets for other clubs

January was an expensive window. Bringing in Premier League experience is going to be expensive. Palace didn’t sell Mateta but did buy Jørgen Strand Larsen. Palace last season sold Marc Guéhi and Eberechi Eze. I am going to assume that if Palace splashes the cash, they would need to sell as well.

Wharton

It has been reported that Palace would want £100m for the transfer. That’s around the 8th-11th biggest transfer fee in the world. It was what West Ham got for Rice and Brighton for Moisés Caicedo. Forest wants similar for Elliot Anderson. Is he worth that? I don’t know. Is a team willing to pay that? I am not sure. He has got three seasons left on his contract and is still a young player. A season in Europa and another season being the main man in the Premier League for Palace. Maybe next season is the season when a team will leap.

Lacriox

He is going to be constantly linked. Because he is a big, fast defender and cult player on the EAFC Ultimate Team. Lots of fans want him to sign for their team. He was a massive signing for Palace as rep beforehand, and he’s increased that in the last two seasons. It’s going to be tough, and hopefully we can keep him for one more season.

Sarr

He’s an interesting one. He was perfect for the Glanser system. Conference League Golden Boot winner with 9 goals in 13 games. Total of 21 goals in all competitions. Sage’s system is similar, but this still might be the time to cash, especially if a big offer comes in. He is a 10 who scores goals. Second strikers are making a comeback. More teams are going to use them as they press high up the pitch with a 442. That could make him an attractive option.

Time to pop off?

Mateta

Last year of his contract, and he almost went to Serie A in January. Looks like he has his heart set on going to play in Italy, which, to be honest, is a fair ambition. The knee injury is still a problem. He rested it but didn't operate. That was enough to put off AC Milan in January. Teams might not be willing to take on that risk. I am glad we got Lausen, as that makes this less urgent to resolve this issue. I think it could drag on until close to the end of the window.

Nketiah

He almost left in the winter window with a bid from West Ham before getting injured. He is a goal-scoring threat, and teams will almost always take a risk on the striker. With Sage coming in, he did a really good job at Lens, making them much more high scoring team (from 44 goals in the league to 66). Odsonne Édouard was a consistent goal scorer, getting 12 goals in Ligue 1. Édouard was more prolific in the SPL. Maybe there is a spot for Eddie with Sage. In the league phase of the Europa League, Eddie should be racking up goals against low-block, tricky teams. With Arsenal in the Europa League, he played 27 games, scoring 5 (0.4 per 90). He was unfortunate with injuries last season but still got 2 goals and an assist in 184 mins.

Loans or one-year contracts

Let’s be honest. In all likelihood, we aren’t qualifying for European football from the league. Europa League should be a priority, but at the same time, we need to respect that European football is not the new normal. Don’t gamble on it being the normal like Leicester City did. We can make some short-term moves. Get a high-profile player for free for a season or loan a bomb squad player from a rich team. This will be our best chance of getting Champions League by winning Europa.

Woody Johnson

First full summer window with Woody. This may change the recruitment style. As Jets fan, I think he likes the New York media to be positive about him. He co-owner of New York New Jersey stadium, which is hosting the World Cup final. I am assuming he will be there and would like to positively talk about Palace. Parish will still be the man in charge.