Crystal Palace signed three excellent players on transfer deadline day in Eddie Nketiah, Maxence Lacroix and Trevoh Chalobah.
The latter was signed on a dry loan from Chelsea – meaning we hold no option or obligation to buy Trevoh Chalobah permanently next summer.
In regards to Eddie Nketiah – who is close friends with Eberechi Eze – the England international arrived in a £25m move from Arsenal, while Maxence Lacroix cost £18m in a switch from VfL Wolfsburg.
So, how could Oliver Glasner include the trio in his starting XI at Crystal Palace? Let’s take a look…
Oliver Glasner could change formation to include Eddie Nketiah as Trevoh Chalobah & Maxence Lacroix slot into the defence
The main talking point since deadline day has been in regards to where Nketiah will play – seeing as Glasner typically uses one central striker with two attacking midfielders supporting in behind.
In our view, the Austrian will switch from his preferred 3-4-2-1 shape to a 3-4-1-2 formation, with Daichi Kamada dropping out.
As you can see below, we feel Nketiah will be deployed as a partner to Jean-Philippe Mateta, rather than act as competition for the Frenchman.
Hopefully, the partnership name of Matetiah catches on throughout the season.
The effective wing-back duo of Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz remains, as does the midfield pairing which changed the game in our 1-1 draw against Chelsea, Adam Wharton and Cheick Doucoure.
At the back, Lacroix steps in to replace Joachim Andersen after his £30m move to Fulham, although the inclusion of Chalobah could cause some problems, as it would mean Chris Richards has to be dropped.
The United States international worked admirably behind the scenes to win a place under Glasner, after Patrick Vieira and Roy Hodgson largely ignored him, giving the American just four Premier League starts in his debut campaign.
However, a player of Chalobah’s quality is unlikely to just be kept in reserve like Rob Holding – who is being made to train alone – has been, so Glasner may soon need to have a tough conversation with Richards.
Ultimately, a transfer window is designed for strengthening your squad, and despite the loss of Michael Olise, Crystal Palace are in much better shape across the board in terms of overall quality.
