A former Premier League striker has revealed how he was close to joining Crystal Palace back in 2017.
Crystal Palace’s transfer acumen has become the envy of many in the Premier League, with the Eagles having become a real hub for thriving young talent.
Players like Michael Olise and Ebere Eze arrived at the club, flourished, and have now left for huge transfer fees. Olise could yet land Crystal Palace a huge sell-on fee amid links to Liverpool.
Then there are players like Adam Wharton who is a long-term target for Real Madrid, and valued at potentially more than £100million ahead of 2026.
But there have been some hits and misses for the Eagles in the transfer market over the last few years. One player who has now admitted he almost signed for the club is former Everton striker Oumar Niasse, who cost Everton £13m in 2016.
Oumar Niasse discusses missed Crystal Palace move
In the summer of 2017, Crystal Palace were heavily linked with a move for Niasse. It was reported that Palace and Everton agreed a fee for the Senegalese striker to head to Selhurst Park, though the move wouldn’t materialise.
Speaking on More Than A Match, the now 35-year-old retired striker revealed how he and his agent walked away from a potential move to South London right before the very end of the 2017 summer transfer window, when Frank de Boer was in charge.
“Three days before the transfer window closed, I started talking with Palace,” Niasse explained. “They wanted me and they offer me a bit of better salary and stuff like that. Offered me a three-year contract.
“Then, deadline day, I went to London, did my medical, did everything I was supposed to do. Last minute, some complication happened between my agent and the club, Crystal Palace.
“It was a nightmare. So it was kind of a little bit of disrespect to the way I understood it, the way they handled the situation. So I said, you know, they just said to me, this is what they’re going to do.
“If you want to sign, that was like an hour before the transfer window closed. There were major and everything. And I said to my agent, let’s go. We walked out to the door there.”
Oumar Niasse’s stats prove he would’ve been a flop at Crystal Palace
Palace have played host to some pretty poor strikers over the last few years. They’ve gambled on a few and it’s not always worked out. Right now though they have a ringer in Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Pundits like Paul Merson have said Mateta would be ideal for Man United but he remains at Crystal Palace where he’s recently been called up to the French national side.
Niasse though looks like one who would’ve flopped at Palace. In four years at Everton he scored just eight goals in 35 Premier League games, spending time out on loan with both Hull City and Cardiff City where he failed to do much either.
He actually ended his career in the lower leagues of England playing for Huddersfield Town, Burton Albion, Morecambe and Macclesfield, again failing to impress, before retiring in the 2023/24 season.
| Niasse career stats | Games | Goals |
| Everton | 42 | 9 |
| Loko Moscow | 42 | 19 |
| Akhisar Belediye | 40 | 15 |
| Hull City | 19 | 5 |
| Cardiff | 13 | 0 |
| Burton Albion | 12 | 3 |
| Morecambe | 10 | 1 |
Crystal Palace actually face Niasse’s former club Everton in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
