Crystal Palace could lose over 30 years of service in their squad if four players leave in the summer transfer window.
Their contracts are all due to expire.
So, which experienced Crystal Palace stars could depart at the end of the season and what effect could this have? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
All Premier League squads need the perfect balance of leadership, experience, exciting talent and top quality to thrive in the division.
The Eagles squad is arguably quite unbalanced at the moment, and losing four of their last five games have shown this.
Now, they could lose a lot of experience and leadership if four players do not sign new deals before the end of this season.
The contracts of Jeffrey Schlupp, James Tomkins, Nathaniel Clyne and Joel Ward are all due to expire in the summer of 2024. Between them, they have played for Crystal Palace for 31 years and the Eagles would lose over 30 years of their service should they choose to leave at the same time.
Crystal Palace could lose 31 years of service next summer
Three of the four players are all arguably coming towards the end of their careers in Ward, Tomkins and Clyne as they are in their mid-30s. It would be sad to lose them but you could easily see them departing at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Schlupp is still a key player for the Eagles, starting most games this season, but his performances haven’t been great. Again, the versatile player is another who could easily leave.
Many may argue that it will be good to get them off the wage bill; however, there is also the argument to suggest that losing all four at the same time could make the squad even more unbalanced.
With 31 years of service at the Eagles gone in one summer, you are losing a lot of leadership and a lot of experience.
With this in mind, it may be a good idea for Palace to keep maybe one or two of the players at the club for another year.
Ward, who is the club captain and the last player left of the squad that got promoted, as well as Schlupp, both still play a lot of football and although they should be settling for a position on the bench next season, it would be good to keep them in the squad.
