Oliver Glasner has confirmed he will leave Crystal Palace at the end of this season, having informed the chair, Steve Parish, in October that he wanted a new challenge, and said the captain, Marc Guéhi, is on the verge of joining Manchester City.
The Austrian, who led Palace to their first major trophy when they won the FA Cup last season, is out of contract in the summer and has been linked with Manchester United in recent weeks. Glasner said last week he was planning further talks with Parish to resolve his future but revealed in the buildup to Palace’s game at Sunderland on Saturday that he would be leaving the club.
“A decision has already been taken, months ago,” said Glasner. “I had a meeting with Steve in October, the international break. We had a very long talk, and I told him: ‘I will not sign a new contract.’ We agreed at the time it was best to keep it between us. It’s the best that we could do that and keep it confidential for three months. But now it’s important to have clarity, and we had a very busy schedule so that’s why we didn’t want to talk about it. Steve and I want the best for Crystal Palace.”
He also revealed that Guéhi would not be part of Palace’s squad that travels to the north-east, with City closing in on signing the England defender. He said: “My latest understanding is that a deal with Marc is in the final stages. I can’t confirm a club, because it’s still not done but it’s in the final stages. The result is that Marc doesn’t play tomorrow for us.”
Glasner admitted the leading scorer, Jean-Philippe Mateta, would also be allowed to leave for the right offer. Juventus are interested but have not met Palace’s demands. “It’s the same [as Guéhi],” Glasner said of Mateta. “There will be a price that Crystal Palace [accept], with 18 months left on his contract. We’d do the deal, if JP wants. If nobody pays that price, then he will stay.”
Palace have offered Angers €20m (£17.3m) for Sidiki Cherif and are confident the 19-year-old striker wants to join.
Glasner, who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, made no secret of his dissatisfaction with Palace’s squad as the club embarked on their first European campaign, in the Conference League. The 51-year-old hinted before the humiliating defeat by Macclesfield in the FA Cup last week that his future might lie elsewhere when he said nothing that happened in the transfer window would affect his decision on whether to stay. He insisted on Friday that his relationship with Parish remained strong.
“We have a great relationship and we’re always talking about what is best for Crystal Palace,” he said.
He added: “I haven’t spoken to any other club, I told the players that and promised them today I will give my best to give the best season in Crystal Palace history, the best points tally in history. We are now four points better off than we were at this stage of the season and we will do everything to bring another trophy back to Selhurst Park. We had the Conference League draw today, we will play Zrinjski Mostar from Bosnia in the playoff draw and I had a look at the draw tree – it’ll be quite interesting who we could play in our section.”
Palace are understood to have started the process of finding a replacement for Glasner, with Getafe’s José Bordalás, Iñigo Pérez of Raya Vallecano and Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna among the names who could be considered. McKenna was a candidate when Roy Hodgson left Selhurst Park in February 2024 before Glasner was appointed.
