Dougie Freedman only signed a new contract at Crystal Palace a few months ago, but now he could argue he deserves a brand-new one.
After interest was shown by both Manchester United and Newcastle, Steve Parish moved quickly to hand Dougie Freedman a new contract.
This was much deserved considering how excellent a job Dougie Freedman has done at Selhurst Park over the past few years with his recruitment changing the Crystal Palace from top to bottom.
Already this summer, he’s begun to once again show why he’s one of the best at what he does. But now, his excellent work has been shown through the two international tournaments ongoing this summer.
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Dougie Freedman’s recruitment is on full display this summer
The fact Freedman is excellent at recruitment is no secret, but this summer at both Euro 2024 and Copa America, it’s on full display.
Out of the entire 25-man Palace squad, six are in the semi-finals of either tournament, which showcases the quality currently possessed by Oliver Glasner right now.
- Daniel Munoz – Colombia
- Jefferson Lerma – Colombia
- Adam Wharton – England
- Dean Henderson – England
- Ebere Eze – England
- Marc Guehi – England
This equates to a whopping 24 percent of the entire squad which says a lot about the squad that Freedman has been able to build over the past few years.
So considering how he has signed so many internationals for one of the four best teams in each of the competitions. It would be even more remarkable if all six managed to be champions for their nations.
For Oliver Glasner, this will be a bad thing
While Glasner will be happy with his players doing well, quietly he’ll have wished that they weren’t progressing so far.
This is due to the fact all six would have key roles in Glasner’s team and as they remain in their tournaments, it means they’re not going to be back at Copers Cope or join preseason until the very end of the month.
This will disrupt the preparations for the 2024/25 season, although it’ll also give other players opportunities in those positions to prove their worth and all being well even unseat the first-choice players.
Hopefully, all six will return with winners’ medals, but for Glasner ideally, they’d already be back and training.
