Crystal Palace set to appoint Ben Wrigglesworth as chief scout | OneFootball

Crystal Palace are set to appoint Ben Wrigglesworth as their new chief scout. The 33-year-old will oversee scouting and support sporting director Matt Hobbs, with whom he previously worked at Wolves. He joins an expanded recruitment team.

“We’re looking to bring someone else in.” Palace chairman Steve Parish said this in an interview with The Athletic last December.

“I don’t think it’s a one-person job anymore. I’m really enjoying working with (Hobbs). It’s a really good start to the post-Dougie era, a good portent, it’s going in the right direction.”

Wrigglesworth has led Wolves’ scouting for the past four years after joining from Arsenal in 2018, having also served as deputy chief scout. He helped bring in Matheus Cunha and Joao Gomes. Cunha later moved to Manchester United for £62.5million and Gomes earned a Brazil call-up, then won their 2025 player of the season.

Earlier, he spent more than three years at Leicester City, playing a key part in signing N’Golo Kante. He assisted Steve Walsh when Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy were recruited.

Wrigglesworth was sidelined last year by manager Vitor Pereira who, with then head of professional football Domenico Teti, ran summer recruitment against the in-house team’s wishes. He is believed to have recommended signing Fulham’s Harry Wilson, which Pereira rejected.

He will be joined in Palace’s growing department by Botafogo scout Alessandro Brito, who is due to lead scouting in South America. Brito has been the Brazilian club’s director of scouting for two years, previously head scout for four, and earlier held the same role at Athletic Mineiro.

The plan is to be smarter in scouting, particularly in less familiar markets such as South America, to better understand targets. It may aid this summer’s window, though Hayden Hackney is already among targets, and with Europa League demands ahead a stable Palace will look to add depth without selling below asking prices.

Short-term impact may be limited, but in the medium to long term these moves should benefit recruitment.

Source: NY Times