He won young player of the season in 2022/23.
With the Crystal Palace match against Burnley on Saturday, the Oliver Glasner era officially began. Although the club’s smooth survival will be the main focus for the next few months, the new manager will have the opportunity to fully launch his project in the summer and add his own touch to the roster through hiring.
It is unclear if Glasner chooses players from the talent pool that Palace has previously been monitoring, or if he brings his own objectives to the table. The Eagles’ scouting team will have amassed substantial dossiers on a wide array of prospective players, some of whom might still be appealing when Roy Hodgson leaves.
For example, Palace has previously expressed interest in Sunderland star Jack Clarke, who is valued at £20 million, and Chelsea center-back Trevoh Chalobah. Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal has also been floated as a potential upfront £30 million acquisition.
A struggle to retain some of the core players in his present team is also facing Glasner, as Juventus is the most recent team to show interest in Michael Olise. Prior to the summer transfer season, Marc Guehi is also becoming more and more of a target for a number of elite English clubs, and it appears that he is open to offers.
The Londoners will need to complete the kind of quiet academy transactions that support a club’s long-term future, even though these will unavoidably be the ones that make headlines this summer. In this sense, Palace has been aware of chances everywhere, even in football outside of the league.
| Crystal Palace signings from non-league clubs (selected) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Season | Signed from |
| Harry Freedman | 2021/22 | Stalybridge |
| Josh Williams | 2019/20 | Newcastle Town |
| Jay Rich-Baghuelou | 2019/20 | Welling United |
| Lewis Hobbs | 2019/20 | Cheshunt |
Outside of the top four levels, another attractive possibility has now surfaced, but Palace will have stiff competition to seal the deal.
Brentford and West Ham play Palace in a box match.
Crystal Palace is one of a “number of clubs” hoping to sign Olly Box from National League South team Dartford, according to journalist Graeme Bailey for HITC Football.
Box was drawing interest while he was in the club’s academy, but after seeing his recent breakthrough in the first team, clubs are now much more keen to sign him. Right now, he’s regarded as “one of the best young players in non-league football”.
The 18-year-old’s competing suitors include Championship teams Middlesbrough and Millwall, as well as Premier League teams West Ham and Brentford. Palace has dispatched scouts to watch the player in action.
Box creating a lot of buzz at Dartford
Before the end of January, Box had only made two appearances for the first team. After that, he was named to the replacements’ bench for three straight games, and his reputation started to rise.
After winning the player of the season award in their youth ranks, he got a first-team contract with the club last summer. It was just a matter of time until he made the step-up, and now he could make an even greater jump, according to youth system manager Ben Greenhalgh, who stated that he had “excelled at academy level [in] each game, week-in, week-out”.
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