Oliver Glasner: Crystal Palace manager grumbles over transfer inactivity as new season nears | OneFootball

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Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner said that the Eagles have been “passive” in the transfer market this summer.

Palace have signed Borna Sosa and Walter Benitez in this transfer window, but this is the second time that Glasner has called the club out on recruitment inactivity.

The Eagles have seen Malcolm Ebiowei, Jeffrey Schlupp, Rob Holding leave Selhurst Park permanently this summer, while Ben Chilwell and Matt Turner both departed upon the expiration of their loan deals. Joel Ward was released at the end of his contract.

David Ozoh, Joe Whitworth, and Owen Goodman have also moved into the EFL on loan, to Derby, Exeter, and Huddersfield respectively.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Community Shield against Premier League champions Liverpool, Glasner admitted that his cohort was “short of numbers” with the season just over a week away.

“I think we were quite passive,” Glasner said of his side’s transfer activity.

“We replaced Turner with Walter Benitez and we replaced Chilwell, two loan players, went back with Sosa. It's good to have them in the building and I think we have to add a few players to be ready for this competition."

Palace will be competing on four fronts this season, with the addition of European football, although which level remains to be seen, as the club appeal UEFA’s decision to demote them down from the Europa League to the Conference League at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"We are short of numbers and if we want to be competitive in all four competitions, what we want to be, we have to add players and especially we have to add players with quality,” Glasner continued.

“It's what we have to do in the next three weeks because then the window closes, so it looks like, or it can be, that we have six games from Sunday till the end of August. I have just told you facts now and that is why we have to act."

Glasner himself knows the Europa League very well, having won the trophy with Eintracht Frankfurt back in 2022, beating Rangers in the final.

"If Crystal Palace want to play European football, wants to play four competitions, wants to climb the Premier League table and reproduce the success again, it is just what you have to do,” the Austrian said.

“Everybody knows this in the building, so of course it helps if players are in early when you start with pre-season because here you have time to train."

“This is what we missed, we have to be honest to ourselves, we missed in the last weeks to bring in the new players early enough. But again, I never complain because it's past, so I can't change it anymore and now it's the focus on the future, the focus on the players who are here."