Many have questioned Crystal Palace’s transfer strategy in the summer window, which saw club legend Wilfried Zaha depart with no immediate replacement.
The window also saw Crystal Palace spend a substantial amount on goalkeeper Dean Henderson, despite Sam Johnstone remaining the club’s number one option, and the squad requiring investment into other areas.
Matheus Franca was signed for a fairly hefty fee, and is yet to start a game, and this money could have been spent on an attacker to replace Zaha.
Palace have not spent too heavily over the years, and both Steve Parish and Roy Hodgson have attempted to temper expectations knowing that the club could not afford a heavy net spend to progress up the table.
However, there is a huge problem at Palace when it comes to squad building and transfers.
Crystal Palace’s transfer problem
In the eight transfer windows since Aaron Wan-Bissaka departed for Manchester United in the summer of 2019, Crystal Palace have sold just two players for any fee at all: Christian Benteke and Alexander Sorloth.
Benteke joined DC United for around £5m, whilst Sorloth, who is currently at La Liga side Villarreal, joined RB Leipzig for around £20m, which was split with Trazbonspor.
Beyond that, Palace have not earned any money from player departures, whilst the likes of Luka Milivojevic, Zaha, Cheikhou Kouyate and others who were regular players departed.
Having an ageing squad for years with limited investment meant that the Palace squad had little resale value, and Palace not earning any transfer income has had a big knock-on effect.
Crystal Palace’s lack of sales
Losing so many players, and key players for free over the years means that Palace cannot reinvest any fees into the playing squad.
A player like Zaha could have attracted a hefty transfer fee years before his departure. Whilst it was ultimately a positive that Palace got to enjoy his talents for the entirety of his contract, the knock-on effect was that replacing him became a lot more difficult.
Letting older players run down their contracts before departing means that extra investment is needed to find replacements, and the lack of big sales since Wan-Bissaka may highlight that, apart from a few players such as Michael Olise, there is little interest in a big move for most of Palace’s squad right now.
Although Palace and Dougie Freedman have done well over the years to find bargains such as Eberechi Eze, the recruitment team would benefit from smarter sales and reinvestment when it comes to scouting.
