Crystal Palace arguably had the most successful end to the transfer window of any Premier League club, and Saturday’s game against Leicester will be a chance for manager Oliver Glasner to unleash his new-look Eagles side.
His potential back three of Marc Guehi, Trevoh Chalobah and Maxence Lacroix may not even have been at the club given a different set of circumstances, as Palace did a flurry of late business.
At one point in the summer it seemed as if the Eagles were going to be raided for several of their top stars, with Newcastle bidding hard for Marc Guehi and interest in Eberechi Eze – on top of the sales of Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen.
Instead, they finished the window strongly with four players signed on deadline day alone, Guehi and Eze staying, more than £70m spent on squad improvements and almost £100m generated from sales over the summer.
But, with only one point from their first three games, Glasner now needs to bed in his new signings and get goals from £30m forward Eddie Nketiah.
Palace had planned for many different scenarios in the window and although they have created a reputation, with sporting director Dougie Freedman bringing in a number of talented youngsters from the Championship, they would say it’s not the only recruitment model they have.
It seemed only a matter of time before Guehi’s transfer to Newcastle was announced, on the back of his successful Euro 2024 with England.
Yet BBC Sport reported a figure of £70m was always going to be the key number that chairman Steve Parish regarded as “superstar money” to enable a deal to be done.
The Eagles were holding out for Newcastle to pay £65m upfront and £10m in add-ons for the 24-year-old – huge money for a centre-back going into the last two years of his contract.
Palace’s resolve was strengthened by new signing Chadi Riad’s injury, but especially so after Andersen’s £30m move to Fulham.
Andersen is believed to have made it known to the club that he wanted a new deal and improved terms on the contract he signed in 2021, when he joined the club.
The Eagles did not feel they could offer the 28-year-old the money or length of contract he was looking for and when Fulham got wind, Palace felt their offer was too good to turn down.
Guehi did not push for a move from the club and his conduct throughout the transfer window has been praised by manager Glasner and Steve Parish.
The departure of Andersen, Jordan Ayew, 33, and 31-year-old Sam Johnstone to Wolves for £10m meant Palace could put money back into the squad for younger players.
Riad is 21, new £18m centre back Maxence Lacroix is 24 and Nketiah is 25 years old.
Matheus Franca and Adam Wharton, both 20, were brought in last season and also helped bring down the average age of the squad.
Palace faced the near-impossible challenge of replacing Olise’s quality, which provided 10 goals and six assists from just 19 Premier League appearances last season.
The Eagles brought in three players with Nketiah, Ismaila Sarr and Daichi Kamada as options to play the number 10 role that Glasner likes in his team.
Nketiah has been brought in as a ready-made goalscorer at top-flight level and, although he will play the role differently to Olise, it’s hoped his goal threat and ability to run in behind will bring different qualities to the team.
One of the shocks of the transfer window was that star forward and England international Eze was not the subject of a formal bid from one of the division’s elite.
Chairman Parish said he was “astounded” that no concrete bids were made.
The 26-year-old has a release clause of £60m, plus around £7m in add-ons, in his contract and that kicks in again next summer.
Palace would be willing to negotiate if the right offer was made for Eze, because of their relationship with the player and the ambitions he has to play at the top level.
Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal tentatively showed interest but, because of the way things moved in the market, no offer came through.
Glasner will be delighted to have kept the majority of his players together and is popular at the club.
Now the window is closed it is up to the Austrian manager and his revamped squad to see if they can replicate the success of last season, when they won six of their last seven games to finish in 10th place.
