Crystal Palace are currently in the midst of their second summer transfer window with Matt Hobbs overseeing recruitment, ever since Dougie Freedman left in March 2025.
Where the Glaswegian excelled as Director of Football with the signings of Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Ismaila Sarr and Daniel Munoz to name a handful, the Englishman is yet to win Crystal Palace fans over after a series of questionable moves.
The £35m signing of Brennan Johnson has proven to be a disaster so far – the Welshman is yet to score in 26 appearances – while the jury is still out on the £48m capture of Jorgen Strand Larsen, who has four goals in 22 games so far.
At this stage of the summer transfer window, Crystal Palace are yet to strengthen. Oscar Mingueza arrived on a free transfer, but the Spaniard does not represent an addition to the squad considering Maxence Lacroix has left for Chelsea.
Lacroix to Chelsea is IMMINENT 🚨
Thoughts, Palace fans? 🤔
Wolves fan Luke Randall has now spoken to We are Palace to discuss how Hobbs typically operated in his previous role at Molineux, and there are certainly some similarities to take.
Exclusive: Crystal Palace fans told to expect “last minute” and “random” moves under Matt Hobbs
Randall said: “He was responsible for not replacing Max Kilman properly after we sold him, so you could see similar happen with Lacroix – perhaps moving for someone who’s got potential rather than proven quality.
“He made some really good signings like Matheus Cunha, but they were pretty much Jorge Mendes-influenced, so I’m not sure he played much of a role in them.
“Typically towards the end of his time at Wolves, we turned into a side that waited until the last minute to conduct deals in vital positions – much like Palace – and ended up with random players or no signing at all. Much of the focus was on outgoings and getting the profit for those. Though some of that had to do with our owners, who haven’t helped at all.
“He likes a stop-gap signing too, when we signed Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina for free and a low fee respectively.
“To his credit, he did more good than bad, very much a Palace type of operator. Loves to sign players for low fees and sell for huge profit, like we saw with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Joao Gomes most recently.”
There was a potential sign that Steve Parish himself was unsure about Hobbs, as a story from Foot Mercato in April claimed that Crystal Palace reached out to Gregory Lorenzi before the Frenchman filled the role of Sporting Director at OGC Nice.
Are you worried about our (lack of) transfer activity? 🤔
Whether that was true or not, Hobbs still has plenty to do until he wins the Crystal Palace fanbase over.
