Crystal Palace suffered a 3-0 loss to Bromley on Saturday at Hayes Lane in the second friendly of pre-season under Pierre Sage.
It was undoubtedly a poor display, but nobody should be reading too much into results at this stage of the summer. These early friendlies are all about building up fitness and getting to grips with the new manager’s tactical identity.
Having said that, there were some intriguing things to note from the trip to Hayes Lane – including how rusty Cheick Doucoure looks.
Do any of these players have a future under Pierre Sage?
The Mali international can be forgiven after suffering badly from injuries across the last two years, but there is good reason for Crystal Palace to worry about Jesurun Rak-Sakyi after another quiet display.
Crystal Palace must be kicking themselves for rejecting £15m Jesurun Rak-Sakyi bids
The way in which Rak-Sakyi’s career has been handled really doesn’t sit right with us.
The Ghana international was hot property after promising loans to Charlton in the 2022/23 campaign and Sheffield United in the 2024/25 season. However, the mistake Crystal Palace made came in between these two terms.
Rak-Sakyi netted 15 goals and provided eight assists across 43 appearances in League One for Charlton, and even despite spending the 2023/24 season sat on the bench under Roy Hodgson, interest was still high.
Two clubs submitted £15m bids for the Crystal Palace academy graduate in the summer of 2024 as they tried to snap up one of England’s brightest talents.
That was even confirmed by Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder himself after ultimately managing to land the Londoner on loan. He said: “There were two £15m bids for him, and three-quarters of the Championship in for him as well… he’s going to be a player.”
Considering Hodgson, nor Oliver Glasner, took much of a liking to Rak-Sakyi, this seemed like a glorious opportunity for Crystal Palace to both make a sizeable amount of cash and let the man from Southwark embark on what looked set to be an impressive career.
However, both of those £15m bids were rejected, despite the fact Glasner had no plans to use the winger in the first-team for the 2024/25 season.
Rak-Sakyi then returned from his loan spell with Sheffield United after the 2024/25 season ended with far less of a buzz around his name, and an underwhelming loan to Turkish outfit Caykur Rizespor then materialised.
That only lasted half of last season, before he spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Stoke.
Now, the former Chelsea academy star looks a shadow of his former self, failing to do anything of note so far this summer in the friendlies against Swindon and Bromley, two sides he probably would have torn to shreds in the form he displayed at Charlton.
| Statistic | Amount |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Shots on Target | 0 |
| Crosses | 0 |
| Dribbles | 0 |
| Passes | 12/13 |
| Unsuccessful Touches | 2 |
| Possession Lost | 3 |
| Dribbled Past | 1 |
Crystal Palace now find themselves in a place where Rak-Sakyi only has 12 months left on his contract and looks likely to leave for free in 2027. Barring a miracle, there is no chance anyone will ever bid as much as £15m again.
It is a unique situation where both Crystal Palace and Rak-Sakyi have emerged as losers. This poor treatment of one of our own really does leave a sour taste.
With several talents leaving in recent years, a pathway to the senior side must open up under Pierre Sage… 😬
With Crystal Palace still needing to be mindful of UEFA’s 70% Squad Cost Ratio this summer, that £15m also would have provided the Eagles with some additional room for manoeuvre in the market.
In all aspects, rejecting those £15m bids for Rak-Sakyi was a baffling decision which has absolutely backfired.
