After years of watching great rivals Brighton praised to the skies, it is about time Crystal Palace were given some love.
Next season will be Palace’s 13th in succession in the Premier League — not bad for a club who can fit barely 25,000 into their stadium.
More importantly, they are perhaps only 90 minutes away from the greatest day in their history. That Palace are even in next month’s FA Cup final against Manchester City is a triumph for their excellent evaluation of players and coaches. Clubs such as Brighton and Brentford are rightly lauded for their data-driven approach to the market, which has produced a long list of stunning success stories.
If those clubs are the best at finding gems in undiscovered leagues, though, Palace are the masters of identifying talent on their own doorstep.
Three years after signing Michael Olise for £8million from Reading, Palace persuaded Bayern Munich to activate his £50m release clause last summer. Adam Wharton cost an initial £18m from Blackburn, Eberechi Eze £19.5m from Queens Park Rangers and Marc Guehi £18m from Chelsea, but Palace bought him on the strength of a successful loan spell at Swansea.
All three were members of the England squad who reached the Euro 2024 final. They will probably leave Palace eventually but when they do, it will be for a huge profit.
Everyone in the top flight knew about Olise, Wharton, Eze and Guehi but only Palace were brave enough to back their judgment with transfer fees and contracts. ‘It is 100 per cent credit to the recruitment,’ said Palace boss Oliver Glasner after watching his side demolish Aston Villa in the semi-final.
‘It’s a great group to manage. It’s all about recruitment and talent and character. Then we can build a group.
'We’ve got the first small reward, that we can come back in three weeks and play here in this fantastic stadium again.’
Now Palace have their work cut out to keep delivering in the market, following the departure of sporting director Dougie Freedman to Saudi club Al Diriyah last month. Freedman, the legendary former Palace striker, drove the signings of Wharton, Eze and Olise.
For the forthcoming transfer window, targets will probably have been identified before Freedman left, but Palace will feel his absence in those that follow and they must appoint wisely. Palace hope that replacing Freedman will be their only major sporting decision in the months ahead.
Glasner’s success in leading Palace to the brink of their first major trophy has not gone unnoticed in the boardrooms of the world’s strongest clubs.
Glasner understands already what it is to lead a top club.
He led Eintracht Frankfurt, a big name in German football, to Europa League glory in 2022.
He has proved the ideal coach to make the most of Palace’s excellent recruitment and has the right combination of calmness and passion on the touchline. For the wealthiest clubs, there is a lot to like.
It is no surprise Glasner was on Bayern Munich’s shortlist last summer before they appointed Vincent Kompany, and the German giants’ high command will have watched Palace dismantle Villa with interest.
Having worked at Frankfurt, Glasner knew already what it was to operate at a club who are managed effectively off the pitch — just look at their striker factory that produced huge fees for Luka Jovic (£50m to Real Madrid), Andre Silva (£20m to RB Leipzig), Sebastien Haller (£45m to West Ham), Randal Kolo Muani (£76m to Paris Saint-Germain), and most recently Omar Marmoush (£59m to Manchester City). Hugo Ekitike looks set to add to the list this summer with a raft of Premier League admirers. Luckily for Glasner, Palace are just as impressive.