Oliver Glasner has been consistent with his desire. He has repeatedly spoken of the need to sign players early in the transfer window, to add to his squad and provide competition where it is most needed.
Yet midway through the January window and instead of an enlarged squad, he has one less player to choose from.
That is because of Chelsea’s decision to recall Trevoh Chalobah from his season-long loan spell. Even if that made no impact on Palace’s preparations for their 2-0 win over Leicester City on Wednesday, it will certainly make life more difficult for them in the remainder of the season.
“I decided yesterday (that he wouldn’t play),” Glasner said in his post-match press conference. “I told him he will stay at home because it looked like it could happen every day and we had to prepare for the game.
“It’s not fair to him, it’s not fair especially to the team — the team is always the No 1. To take him with us and decide during the day that he can’t play.
“I said regardless of whether they call you back now, you won’t play the two games against Leicester or West Ham (on Saturday). Then let’s see. It didn’t influence our game today as it was already decided he wouldn’t play.”
It had no material effect on the result of the game either, but Glasner’s words indicated a sense that he felt a recall was likely, and the mention of how important the team is was a reiteration of previous comments to that effect.
He was very much aware that Chelsea might decide to activate the clause in Chalobah’s loan deal to recall him to west London, given that he had been forced to leave the 25-year-old out of the squad at late notice for the 1-0 FA Cup third round victory over Stockport on Sunday.
GO DEEPER
Trevoh Chalobah, the Chelsea loanee Crystal Palace were not able to play
Chris Richards started in Chalobah’s place in both matches, as he is likely to do so for the foreseeable future. Suddenly the familiarity that is so critical to how Glasner sets his team up was gone.
A backline that has helped Palace to concede only 28 goals this season, the second lowest of any side in the bottom half of the Premier League table, behind Everton’s 25, has now been broken up.
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Chalobah will be missed, particularly as part of a defensive trio which had been unbeaten in their last six league games together, but Palace have alternative options in Richards and Chadi Riad, who has recently returned from injury. Nathaniel Clyne can also cover adequately.
USMNT international Richards looked rusty, at least in the opening 45 minutes at the King Power Stadium, giving away possession cheaply in his own half and looking to pass sideways or backwards rather than forwards. He was not helped by a below-par performance from Daniel Munoz in the first half either. Leicester were particularly active down that side.
Yet despite the home side’s 11 shots in that period, Palace did not concede and were better in the second half, with Ismaila Sarr finding Jean-Philippe Mateta for the first goal before Marc Guehi guaranteed victory with a second.
As much as Palace would have preferred to keep Chalobah, there are other areas of the team which would have been harder hit by losing a player and a loan spot is now available. It is small consolation, though.
“I don’t know if disappointing is the right word,” Glasner said in his press conference after the Leicester win. “If you have a loan deal it’s a win-win-win situation but Chelsea are the biggest winners.”
It was a positive outlook on the situation given that Glasner must still contend with losing an important player regardless of the inferior alternatives he has at centre-back to slot in to Chalobah’s place. It does, at least, make Guehi’s immediate future more likely to be at Palace.
“It’s clear and we have a commitment that we want to sign two players, two different positions,” Glasner said in his press conference before Palace’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on January 3, making clear the importance of bringing in new players, not losing them.
“The profiles are clear and the players are fixed. Now we have to get the deals done. This is the job of the club. I know they are working hard. (It’s) better we get them yesterday than tomorrow but we’re not the only ones who want them. I have a clear commitment that we want to sign two players.”
Tougher tests than Leicester will come, but the hope will be that, just as Chalobah and Maxence Lacroix improved with regular minutes and familiarity, so too will Richards. He has a head start having started three of the four opening games of the season, and now four of the most recent five.
Glasner appears to be optimistic despite Chalobah’s return, and he has done well to bring Palace above a point-per-game in view of their small squad which has been weakened by the continued absence of Adam Wharton in particular.
But Chalobah’s recall should act as a catalyst for Palace to push to conclude the deals that they are pursuing and furnish him with a squad that is capable of pushing up the table, rather than having to look over their shoulders.
(Header photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
