The Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, has confirmed that Eberechi Eze is to complete his move to Arsenal but has been urged to find replacements by his clearly frustrated manager, Oliver Glasner.
Palace will head to Norway for the second leg of their Conference League playoff against Fredrikstad on an artificial surface with a 1-0 lead thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s header. But with Eze having pulled out on the morning of the game citing illness after Arsenal agreed a fee worth up to £67.5m for the England forward on Wednesday evening, they struggled to break their opponents down and Parish acknowledged that it is imperative Palace are decisive in the transfer market.
“He’s been fantastic for the club,” he said of Eze on Channel 5. “We all love him for what he’s done and what he’s achieved and we’re pleased that he’s going to go on and fulfil the other ambitions that he’s got. But the king is no longer the king, right? We have to move past it and we have to find other players to bring in that could support the rest of the team and Oliver.” Parish also admitted that Marc Guéhi could still epart Palace with Liverpool interested in signing the Palace captain, who has entered the final year of his contract.
“If Marc wants to sign a contract, then he can stay. If he doesn’t want to sign a contract, then we have to look at it,” he said. “It’s a difficult situation. Every club like us, and particularly if you’re in Europe, the financial rules are a lot tighter than the Premier League. They’re a lot tighter. Everybody has to sell players to, you know, comply with the rules. So that’s a situation we’ll have to look at in the next 11 days.”
But Glasner was only half-joking when he suggested that Guéhi’s departure before next week’s second leg would force the former defender into considering playing himself.
“I just know if Marc leaves, and is not available for Fredrikstad, we would have big problems,” he said. “It’s pretty clear. We can’t register anyone. So from my side, he has to stay. You see, we played with Jefferson Lerma in the back today. He’s a midfield player. We have no centre-backs available at the moment, and if Marc leaves, OK, maybe I will ry my boots, because I was a centre-back and this could be a good option. I will think about it.”
Palace have spent the least amount of any club in Europe’s top five leagues and have earmarked Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss as a potential replacement for Eze.
Asked whether he felt disheartened by the situation after leading Palace to the FA Cup glory in May, Glasner added: “I think it’s better I don’t talk too much about it. Because, you know, I start to get … And it’s better than not always saying what you are feeling and what you’re thinking. We have to act. We need this. And this is Crystal Palace’s future. The profile is defined for months. It is not surprising for everyone that Ebs left. We missed the chance to replace him early enough. That’s completely our fault and nobody else’s.”
