Guehi and Glasner double proves Crystal Palace fans are only allowed one nice thing | OneFootball

Eight months on from Oliver Glasner and his Crystal Palace players “living our childhood dream” by winning the FA Cup – the club’s very first major trophy – the Austrian boss looked to make further history in the build up to his side’s Premier League clash with Sunderland on Saturday in delivering arguably the most brutal press conference ever endured by a group of football supporters.

It’s not easy being a Crystal Palace fan. Even that sweet landmark victory over Manchester City at Wembley in May – their greatest day – quickly turned ever-so-slightly sour through their demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League thanks to some pretty murky multi-club ownership rules ahead of the departure of game-winner Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.

The overriding feeling that ‘we can’t have nice things’ was appeased somewhat by Marc Guehi’s proposed transfer to Liverpool falling through on transfer deadline day, but Glasner has now confirmed that Palace won’t have that particular nice thing for the whole season as widely expected and will instead lose a third talisman – after Michael Olise and Eze – in the space of 18 months. Adam Wharton next? Almost certainly.

“His move is at final stages,” Glasner said on Friday, before Fabrizio Romano and the other transfer hyenas delivered the news that Palace have accepted a bid from Manchester City of around £20m for their Guehi, who’s ready to move to the Etihad this month.

It makes absolute sense for City, who are signing a world class centre-back to significantly boost their chances of winning a major trophy this season, for Guehi, who deserves to be playing Champions League football and had achieved everything possible at Palace, and arguably for Palace themselves, who are getting £20m for a footballer they would have received nothing for at the end of the season.

The concern for the fans will be if and how that £20m will be spent. Unless they have access to a Maxence Lacroix tree they’re not about to sign a centre-back who comes close to Guehi’s quality for that fee. Finding one in the two weeks left of the January transfer window feels like an impossible challenge.

But Palace fans won’t just be concerned by the rest of this season, which is already threatening to get away from as they’ve dropped from fourth to 13th since the start of December and were the suckers in the greatest upset in FA Cup history last weekend when they lost to Macclesfield, they will also be worried for what’s to come next term after Glasner also confirmed he will be leaving in the summer.

“A decision has already been taken, months ago,” Glasner said. “I had a meeting with Steve [Parish, chairman] 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 the 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. I told Steve [that] I’m looking for a new challenge.

“It’s my feeling after everything. I told him in October it’s nothing to do with the transfer window. I hate if something is written that is not true it’s tough for me to respond. We have a great relationship and always talking what’s best for Palace.”

It will come as no surprise to Palace fans, who will have seen Glasner’s name at the top of the next manager lists of multiple top clubs, including that of Manchester United as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS cronies scour the market for interim boss Michael Carrick’s permanent successor.

But they can be forgiven for having the world-weary view that it provides brutal testimony that not only can they only have one nice thing (we would keep that FA Cup trophy under lock and key if we were them) but that one bad thing at any one time isn’t enough for their long-suffering souls.

If the last three months wasn’t the right time to announce his departure, surely the very same press conference in which you’re announcing your captain and best player’s exit isn’t either. Have a heart, Oliver.