Daichi Kamada explains why he snubbed Saudi interest to sign new Crystal Palace deal | OneFootball

Japan international’s parents played key role in the decision

Daichi Kamada has revealed his parents convinced him to snub transfer offers from Saudi Arabia and extend his Crystal Palace contract.

The Japan international committed his future to Palace earlier this summer, signing a one-year contract extension, but says he has aspirations of pling his trade at a Champions League heavyweight.

In a wide-ranging mini-documentary produced by Japanese outlet TV Asahi, Kamada candidly revealed he had received an offer from a club in the Saudi Pro League as recently as last winter, and that he took time to consider his options before agreeing to remain in south-east London earlier this month.

“I’ve always dreamed, ever since I was a kid, of challenging myself at a big club if the opportunity arose,” he explained. “I’m always keeping an eye out for that possibility, considering my age. Nothing like that came up this summer.

“They (Crystal Palace) set a deadline, so I explored my options up to that point. Up until last winter, I was actually thinking about going to Saudi Arabia—I did get an offer—and just sort of winding down my career.

One more year: Daichi Kamada

“I was planning to make that decision around March. I called my parents. It involved a huge sum of money so I expected them to be pleased, but that wasn’t the case at all.”

Kamada has been at Palace since 2024 and played a key role in one of the club’s most successful spells, contributing to FA Cup and Conference League triumphs.

After helping Japan reach the World Cup last-32 this summer, he and his Eagles team-mates will embark on Palace’s first-ever Europa League campaign.

He continued, explaining that he had options to leave the club this summer but decided to renew his deal regardless.

On Palace agreeing to let him sign a one-year extension, he said: “It shows just how highly Palace rates me. I’m really grateful for that.

“If you look for a team better than Palace, the options are extremely limited—clubs like the Premier League’s big six, in Germany, maybe just Bayern, or Paris Saint-Germain... there are probably fewer than ten teams worldwide at that level.

“Regarding my own priorities, competing in the Premier League is huge for me. It used to be that my goal was just to play in the Champions League—or even win it— but we won the Conference League last year, so we have European competition now, too.

“Plus, the city is London, and my family is really settled into life here. In that sense, I feel like it would be hard to find anything better than this. So, ultimately, I had really only told Palace that I wanted a one-year contract.

“And in a way, the fact that they agreed to that was a huge deal for me. It felt like a testament to what I’d achieved so far. So, yeah... that’s why I decided to stay at Palace.”