At least Pierre Sage did his research before joining Crystal Palace in June. Having stepped into Oliver Glasner’s shoes after the most successful era in the club’s history, it has not been the easiest transition for the engaging Frenchman following defeats against Everton and Manchester City to start the new campaign, and amid uncertainty surrounding the futures of some of the Conference League winners’ key players.
Ismaïla Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta ended up staying at Selhurst Park despite interest from Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, while Palace brought in four new players after missing out to Sunderland for Malick Fofana in one of deadline day’s most dramatic storylines . But Sage is sanguine about experiencing a typically chaotic first transfer window in south London, and relieved to be able to concentrate on events on the pitch before Saturday’s trip to Fulham.
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“I knew that and I had to deal and adapt to that,” Sage said when asked about Palace’s reputation for doing late deals, a trend that has led to them signing 10 players on the final day in the past three summer windows. “But at the end the most important thing is to have the player or the profile we choose and that’s the case. I think we are in line with what we need.”
Glasner, who has been joined at Nottingham Forest from Palace by Daniel Muñoz, made no secret of his dissatisfaction at having to wait until deadline day to bring in players after Palace signed four in his first summer at the club in 2024. It’s not Sage’s style to make a similar fuss, even if he is understood to have expressed frustration over their efforts to recruit a top-class replacement for Maxence Lacroix when the France defender was sold to Chelsea in July.
His favoured target was Ismaëlo Ganiou from Lens, the 21-year-old a key competent in the team that won the Coupe de France and finished second in Ligue 1 under Sage last season. However, Lens were reluctant to sell one of their prized assets and Ganiou signed a new deal at the start of August, forcing Palace to explore other targets.
A deal for Joel Ordóñez of Club Brugge broke down as the Ecuador defender is still recovering from a broken foot, while attempts to sign Augsburg’s Chrislain Matsima and Raphaël Le Guen of Brest also came to nothing. The arrival of Axel Disasi and the teenager Honest Ahanor on loan will help plug the gap, yet there remain major doubts over whether Lacroix’s leadership at the back has been fully replaced.
Having failed to lure Mamadou Sangaré from Lens, with the Mali midfielder opting to join Brentford instead, Sage was the driving force in Palace’s attempt to bring in Fofana from another of his former clubs, Lyon. That ultimately proved futile despite a series of phone calls to the Belgium forward on deadline day. “I’m really proud and happy with what the club did for that,” Sage insisted. “We fight a lot and sometimes you cannot give more than this, but we give our best in this situation. At the end, the player chooses.” It remains to be seen whether the signing of the Chile forward Dario Osorio from the Danish club Midtjylland on an initial loan with an obligation to buy next summer for £26m makes up for the disappointment given he plays mainly on the right flank.
Palace are well stocked in attacking areas having also signed Dwight McNeil and Evann Guessand – who has been left out of the squad for the Europa League – and kept hold of Sarr. The return of Ben Chilwell and late addition of Quinten Timber to midfield will add depth and are believed to have gone some way to satisfying Sage, not to mention Palace’s rejection of bids from unnamed sides for Adam Wharton. Manchester City and Chelsea were believed to be among those who showed an interest. “The club was strong with the situation, and I think the player is completely in line with that,” he said.
But after breaking their transfer record twice in January, for Jørgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson – who was swapped for McNeil, with Everton – Palace’s summer net spend of almost £40m in profit was the second lowest in the division behind Aston Villa. Over the past five seasons, Hull and Coventry have both invested more than Palace’s £90m despite being in the Championship.
Sage was quick to reject suggestions he is unhappy with Palace’s summer signings and instead drew on his experiences from watching his parents run their brasserie in Belley, a town in the Ain region of eastern France. “I’m not frustrated – we are not a bank,” he said. “We do with what we have. My parents had a restaurant and I prefer every day there’s a lot of clients but it was not the case sometimes and we have to deal with that every day. In football it’s the same.”
The absences of Sarr and Mateta, the latter of which had his hopes of leaving scuppered by a hamstring injury that will keep him out for another three weeks, will not help Palace’s chances against Fulham. Sage expects Sarr back from a groin injury for the game against Ipswich next Saturday but said the Senegal forward “needs time” after being affected by Liverpool’s interest, which led to his agent releasing a statement criticising the player’s treatment.
It will not have escaped Sage’s attention that Glasner won three times at Craven Cottage in 2025, including a quarter-final victory on the way to winning the FA Cup. After the week he has had, more of the same would do against another team who have yet to get off the mark in the league this season.
Ismaïla Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta ended up staying at Selhurst Park despite interest from Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, while Palace brought in four new players after missing out to Sunderland for Malick Fofana in one of deadline day’s most dramatic storylines . But Sage is sanguine about experiencing a typically chaotic first transfer window in south London, and relieved to be able to concentrate on events on the pitch before Saturday’s trip to Fulham.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Ed Aarons. Published 4 Sept 2026, 11:58 am.
