Marc Guehi and Oliver Glasner: How the Crystal Palace move happened

Glasner gathered all his players and staff at the club’s training ground shortly before noon on Friday.

What came did not scare the players, they should have been sitting under a rock not knowing that their manager might leave in the summer.

However, time changed the language. Why now?

Before his announcement to the players, his captain Guehi had confirmed that he wanted to join Manchester City.

Glasner is one of Guehi’s biggest supporters, and will continue to be if they part ways.

It was always the Austrian’s intention that he and his captain leave at the end of the season, but with Guehi’s departure, perhaps, it is not surprising that he has decided to confirm his intention to leave now.

Nevertheless, the rift between Glasner and the Palace division began to show in the summer.

The Austrian coach has been expressing his frustration over the lack of income transfers. The club only signed left-back Borna Sosa and second-choice goalkeeper Walter Benitez before the final week of the window, by which time the season had already started.

They are eyeing a move for Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande, but the club have never come close to agreeing a deal.

Glasner was adamant in his belief that the club should use last season’s FA Cup victory to build a squad capable of promotion to the Premier League, but also able to cope with the demands of playing European football for the first time.

Finally, Palace signed Yeremy Pino in a £26m deal while young players Christantus Uche and Jaydee Canvot also arrived.

But Uche and Canvot have not played, with Glasner relying heavily on the same squad as he did last season with less rotation, a team that lost key player Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.

Palace have started the season well, with many pushing for a place in the Champions League.

But Glasner feared trouble was imminent. The coach has the ability to play both domestic and European football – he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 after all.

Some behind the scenes believe that his fear of changing teams clearly indicated that it was his intention not to renew his contract.

It was as if he was getting his pound of flesh from the players because he knows that he is going anyway,” said another source.

In the end, Glasner’s worries came true. They are currently on a nine-game winless run, with their latest defeat coming last Saturday against relegation-threatened Macclesfield as their bid to retain the FA Cup came to an ignominious end.

They are currently 13th in the Premier League heading into this weekend’s game at Sunderland.

Preventing Guehi from joining Liverpool in a £35m deal in the summer represented a victory for Glasner, who has been adamant the defender should not be sold even if it meant the club would lose him for nothing this summer.

Despite being denied by Glasner, several sources have revealed that the 51-year-old player would immediately consider his position if Palace were to sell Guehi in the summer.

Even after Glasner told Parish of his intention to resign at a dinner in October, he realized that Palace had somehow given up hope of persuading their manager to do a U-turn.

For example, the club record signing of Brennan Johnson was said to have been driven by the Austrian.

Equally, Parish is said to have played a major role in ensuring that Johnson arrives at the beginning of the January window to bring his manager, which many have interpreted as an attempt to convince Glasner that the club prioritizes strengthening the squad with his signature.

That said, Palace have been working hard to identify potential replacements for Glasner in the summer.