Evening Standard
·18 dicembre 2025
Oliver Glasner issues Crystal Palace transfer update as Eagles face Conference League play-off

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Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·18 dicembre 2025

Eagles forced to rely on four academy talents amid fixture congestion worries
Oliver Glasner insists Crystal Palace will not adjust their transfer plans despite facing mounting injuries and an extra play-off.
The Eagles missed a chance to secure automatic progression to the Conference League round of 16 as they were held to a 2-2 draw by ten-man KuPS, and will now face an extra two-legged play-off in January.
With injuries mounting in the Palace camp and Ismaila Sarr away at AFCON, Glasner made 11 changes for the match, handing debuts to three academy youngsters - Joel Drakes-Thomas, Dean Benamar, and George King.
He insisted, though, that the suboptimal result would not affect his long-established transfer plans.
“We started to talk about this weeks ago,” he told TNT Sports at full-time. “If we start now, it is too late.

Debutant: Joel Drakes-Thomas was among the youngsters to impress Oliver Glasner
Getty Images
“Everything is already on track, and it's just to get the deals done. We know this, the club knows this, the board knows this.”
However, Glasner would not be drawn into revealing the positions he most wanted to strengthen in January: “I don’t want to talk about it because if everybody knows it just gets more expensive.
“Everything is on track, and the club, Matt Hobbs (director of football), Steve (Parish) are really working hard to get these deals done and I trust in them.”
He continued, making clear he was impressed by the performances of Crystal Palace’s youngsters despite dropping points for the third time in six Confernce League matches.
There was a caveat, though: “The young players played very well today. We could also see what they need because all four Under-21s cramped during the game, but that’s a good experience for them.
“What was very good today was that we could rest a few players and the others got 30 minutes.
“It’s like a good session that they are in the rhythm, and we needed to sub a few because they need to be available in two days.
“It looks like in the Conference League, we go there, we take the tough way, but it looks like we want every single game.”
Palace will learn their play-off opposition on January 16, but it seems likely they will face either Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar or Sigma Olomouc. In the meantime, they return to Premier League action away to Leeds on Sunday.









































