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Thoughts on the window

M

MrRobbo

Member
Location
Chaldon
Country
England
So window closed, and broadly it went exactly as it was rumoured to go. A bunch of peripheral players sent out on loan, which hopefully will be great for development.

A couple of clear ‘upgrades’, Riad, Nketiah etc. And a couple that should be upgrades (performance, fee, age) on paper at least, Kamada, Lacroix.

Olise was never going to be replaceable like-for-like, but for what it’s worth Sarr is a good value replacement.

I’m maybe a tiny disappointed that we didn’t utilise the loan market. Especially Chelsea.

And maybe a bit disappointed that we didn’t take a risk with an Olise mrk2 from the championship.

The fact that JRS and Ebiowei both went on loan means that Franca is closer to impacting the first team. OR maybe he was just injured when the moves would have happened.

I make it about £40 net, but we are essentially a keeper down.


(Released) Tomkins > Riad (£12.5m)

(£8m) Ayew > Kamada (free)

(£50m) Olise > Sarr (£12.5m)

(£30m) Anderson > Lacroix (£18m)

(loan) Edouard > Nketiah (£25m)

(£10m) Johnstone > Matt Turner (loan)

(loan) Ahamada

(released) Jairo

(loan) David Ozoh

(loan) JRS

(Loan) Malcolm Ebiowei

(Loan) Luke Plange
 
So although signing plenty of players we’ve actually made money this window, we’ve kept hold of Guehi and we’ve got the striker we’ve all craved who’s natural finishing ability has been likened to Ian Wright, Edouard is now someone else’s problem

Can’t be bad 😎
 
I think it is a fantastic window, i was certain Guehi was going to leave, but i think the most pleasing thing is he wanted to stay, Kamada, Sarr, Riad, Nketiah, Lacroix, Turner and possibly Chalobah,
Andersen, Ayew, Edouard, Johnstone, Ahamada out, I know Olise left but we didn't sell him, unfortunately it was his decision,
As Edouards contract finishes in the summer of 2025, hopefully we will never see him in a palace shirt
 
Of yesterday's signings...

Lacroix was logged as one of the top 5 fastest players in the Bundesliga last season. He has admitted himself that his performances were not at his usual level last season but hopefully between Jesus (see his Insta page) and working with Glasner he'll regain the form that attracted the best clubs in Europe.

1725091931493.webp

Nketiah is another quick and mobile player and offers something different to Mateta, whereas Edouard was more like an underperforming version. A big fee but I think he could end up being a really good signing. My only real reservation is what he has been signed to do. Is he going to play alongside JP, or has he been signed to provide competition?

Turner is just a solid backup. I don't think many will be calling for him to replace Henderson and that might not be a bad thing. We can now just concentrate on supporting the man between the sticks.

Chalobah (if he has signed) is a bit of an odd one, but he definitely improves us. He was arguably Chelsea's best defender in their last 10 games. He's a real athlete, is strong, can pass, shoot (as we know!) and is no slouch. If he has indeed signed then it'll be interesting to see who ends up as OG's first-choice back three.

Overall I'm happy. The first two games showed we needed more pace at the back if we're going to press so high and Lacroix brings that. Edouard showed he has lost all confidence and we weren't carrying enough scoring threat despite looking lively around the final third so hopefully Nketiah helps address that. Sarr adds even more pace (when he came on against Norwich he overtook everyone including Munoz to retrieve the ball). My guess is Riad is possibly going to be eased in to replace Guehi next summer. Kamada needs time as he has great technical ability, but so far he seems to be struggling with the pace of the game. On the downside, I am concerned that if Mitchell or Munoz get injured we don't have proper cover.

I'd give the window a 7/10
 
BromleyMonkey said:
So although signing plenty of players we’ve actually made money this window, we’ve kept hold of Guehi and we’ve got the striker we’ve all craved who’s natural finishing ability has been likened to Ian Wright, Edouard is now someone else’s problem

Can’t be bad 😎
Click to expand...
Nketiah could turn out to be a masterstroke and be the new Andy Johnson who blossoms into a top goalscorer. Or is that too optimistic?
Lacroix is an interesting signing as an unknown quantity but could be an absolute monster alongside Guehi and Challobah.
How long before the transfer window reopens and we have to go through all this again?
 
Teddy Eagle said:
Nketiah could turn out to be a masterstroke and be the new Andy Johnson who blossoms into a top goalscorer. Or is that too optimistic?
Lacroix is an interesting signing as an unknown quantity but could be an absolute monster alongside Guehi and Challobah.
How long before the transfer window reopens and we have to go through all this again?
Click to expand...
Chalobah .. are you sure it's gone through?
 
Lanzo-Ad said:
I think it is a fantastic window, i was certain Guehi was going to leave, but i think the most pleasing thing is he wanted to stay, Kamada, Sarr, Riad, Nketiah, Lacroix, Turner and possibly Chalobah,
Andersen, Ayew, Edouard, Johnstone, Ahamada out, I know Olise left but we didn't sell him, unfortunately it was his decision,
As Edouards contract finishes in the summer of 2025, hopefully we will never see him in a palace shirt
Click to expand...
Sadly I believe he’s signed an extension to 2026
 
Teddy Eagle said:
Nketiah could turn out to be a masterstroke and be the new Andy Johnson who blossoms into a top goalscorer. Or is that too optimistic?
Lacroix is an interesting signing as an unknown quantity but could be an absolute monster alongside Guehi and Challobah.
How long before the transfer window reopens and we have to go through all this again?
Click to expand...
Blimey teddy, can you imagine if he turns out a cross between Ian Wright and Andy Johnson for us, optimistic maybe, but I remember seeing Ian Wrights debut thinking he was a puff of nothing he won’t be any good and AJ had an early nickname of ‘fast but useless’ 🤣
So you never know, Arsenal fans seem to like Nketiah and they obviously see plenty of Wrighty to compare, so we live in hope
 
Turner, Nketiah, Lacroix, Chalobah, Sarr, Riad and Kamada not a bad window.

Andersen will be a big miss but Palace have got Lacroix, Chalobah and Riad. Plus Lerma can also play in a back 3 and they still have Richards so Palace have enough cover at CB.

CM/DM is fine as well (Hughes, Lerma, Doucoure, Wharton) Plus Kamada can also play CM if necessary.

ST - Mateta and Nketiah. (Not bad hopefully Nketiah can get goals and Mateta can start getting the goals like last season)

I think where Palace might be short of are wingers. Ayew left. He could play there. Apart from Sarr who else in the team is a winger? Maybe Schlupp can play there. If injuries happen to Kamada, Sarr Palace will be very short. Glasner does play with 2 Number 10's normally (likely Kamada and Eze most games) Perhaps with Nketiah signing the formation could change to a 3-4-1-2 (Eze as a No 10 and Mateta, Nketiah up front)


I think the team will look like this very soon (Henderson, Chalobah, Guehi, Lacroix, Mitchell, Doucoure, Wharton, Munoz, Eze, Mateta, Nketiah) 3-4-1-2 If Kamada can get some form it will be hard to see who starts or not. Eze is a definite starter. The coach likes Mateta. But they also bought Nketiah. Hard to see who will start.
 
Bittersweet, it's been a great window and the club has done well, but the first couple of games have shown how irreplaceable olise is. He's a generational talent and was always going to the top, just would have loved one more season with him. In terms of our squad I'd say we're pretty strong, probably not strong enough to compete for top 8 but I have no worries we will be relegated. Cover for Mitchell was a priority and lwb should have been the first position we should have looked at. I'm expecting another mediocre season.
 
BromleyMonkey said:
Blimey teddy, can you imagine if he turns out a cross between Ian Wright and Andy Johnson for us, optimistic maybe, but I remember seeing Ian Wrights debut thinking he was a puff of nothing he won’t be any good and AJ had an early nickname of ‘fast but useless’ 🤣
So you never know, Arsenal fans seem to like Nketiah and they obviously see plenty of Wrighty to compare, so we live in hope
Click to expand...
I'm trying to imagine that Monkey but that level of optimism is an alien concept with Palace.
Various outlets are playing up his south London roots, beyond his being friendly with Eze, I don't know what to make of that. We have a natural affinity for fellow south Londoners but our record holders for goals and appearances were both Scottish.
 
I think it's been a window that shows how much we have progressed over the last few seasons. It's not just about the incomings (which are good and provide good depth to cover most injury situations) it's also about the loans out:
- 2 first team squad players loaned out and
- 11 Academy players out on loan with 3 of them at Championship clubs
One or more of those 11 could be ready for regular 1st team football with us next season.
Finally, it's a rare window in that we have earned more in fees for players sold than we have paid out on players bought.
 
doombear said:
I think it's been a window that shows how much we have progressed over the last few seasons. It's not just about the incomings (which are good and provide good depth to cover most injury situations) it's also about the loans out:
- 2 first team squad players loaned out and
- 11 Academy players out on loan with 3 of them at Championship clubs
One or more of those 11 could be ready for regular 1st team football with us next season.
Finally, it's a rare window in that we have earned more in fees for players sold than we have paid out on players bought.
Click to expand...
A couple of fans of other clubs were saying to me that Palace are no longer relegation candidates. One said we're about as solid mid-table as you can get. I guess that is progress.
 
I am happy. I don’t have the experience of a lot of you. Only a couple of full seasons under my belt. But defence was sometimes painful to watch. So happy we changed a lot of it. I am excited for this season and looking forward to the next game at Selhurst Park.
 
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