With the deadline day signing of Derby Country striker Luke Plange, Crystal Palace have once again shown their commitment to signing young talent from England's second tier.
The Eagles have utilised the Championship to their benefit in recent seasons by plucking some of the league's best players and adding them to their ranks in south London.
Plange is the latest of those, with the 19-year-old striker having only made his senior debut in December but making an instant impression at Pride Park for Wayne Rooney's side.
A former Arsenal academy player, Plange is being sent back to Derby for the remainder of the season on loan before he moves up to the Premier League where he'll be treading a path familiar to many members of Patrick Vieira's first team.
Below, football.london have picked out the players from the Crystal Palace squad who thrived in the Championship before moving to the Eagles shortly after.
Eberechi Eze
The player who started off Palace's recent love affair with the English second tier, Ebere Eze broke through in west London at Queens Park Rangers.
The attacking midfielder played 46 times in all competitions in the 2018-19 season but truly broke into the mainstream a year later, scoring 14 goals and providing eight assists in 48 games for the Hoops.
Eze's form saw him called up to the England Under-21 side and soon attracted Palace's interest. He signed a five-year contract at Selhurst Park in August 2020 for a fee that could rise to £20million.
He quickly settled in south London and was one of the Eagles' standout players during Roy Hodgson's final season in charge of the club.
An Achilles injury then kept him on the sidelines for six months before he returned to playing action under new manager Patrick Vieira against Aston Villa in November.
Marc Guehi
Centre-back Marc Guehi came through Chelsea's academy but like many of the Blues' young prospects, he was sent out on loan to build experience.
He pitched up at Championship side Swansea City for a season and a half, quickly impressing fans with commanding performances in an eye-catching Steve Cooper side.
Guehi made 45 appearances for the Swans across all competitions in the 2020/21 season including playing the full 90 minutes at Wembley as they lost the play-off final 2-0 to Brentford.
Upon his return to Chelsea last summer, Palace quickly made contact and agreed on a £20m fee for the defender, who signed a five-year deal in south London.
Guehi has come straight into Crystal Palace's first team since and, alongside fellow new recruit Joachim Andersen, is one of the first-choice centre-backs under Vieira this season.
Michael Olise
Much like Eze a season earlier, Michael Olise caught Palace's eye after producing some dazzling attacking displays for a mid-table side.
The teenager winger was plying his trade for Reading during the 2020/21 season and provided 20 goals involvements (seven goals and 12 assists) in 44 Championship games for the Royals.
He was subsequently snapped up as Palace's first signing of the summer window last year and quickly become a fan favourite after slowly being given time to bed into the Eagles' first team under Vieira.
Olise scored his first goal for the club as a substitute against Leicester in October before getting a run of game time at the turn of the New Year as Jordan Ayew went off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana.
He responded by scoring and assisting in back-to-back games against West Ham in the league and Millwall in the FA Cup, winning the 'player of the round' award from the FA for his performance in the latter.
Conor Gallagher
Palace's other second-tier gem is midfielder Conor Gallagher, who spent time on loan at both Charlton Athletic and Swansea during the 2019-2020 season.
The Chelsea loanee settled quickly in south London with the Addicks, netting six times in 26 games during the first half of the season before being recalled and sent to Swansea.
Gallagher got to play in a more attacking-based side in Wales and said he developed a lot during his time at the Liberty Stadium where he ended the season before moving to West Bromwich Albion on loan the following year.
He was then given the green light to join Palace on loan last summer where he has thrived, leading the charge as one of the Eagles best players of the season from midfield.
