r/crystalpalace

Manchester City have made enquiries to Crystal Palace over a potential deal for Adam Wharton but were informed the midfielder is not for sale this summer.

The 22-year-old is among multiple candidates on City’s recruitment list but Palace have no intention of selling him before the deadline of September 1.

Pierre Sage arrived as Crystal Palace manager well aware of the task at hand as he tries to build on the unprecedented success of the past two seasons — the most glittering period in the club’s history, which has yielded three trophies. 

But as he spoke to the media for the first time on Thursday, it actually felt as though he had been at Palace for some time already.

There was a confidence and authority in the way he spoke, the Frenchman giving considered answers in fluent English and even cracking a few jokes along the way. 

Used to rate him…

We've signed six players, all of whom have promise about them. Doucoure is back, Franca maybe is close to being ready, we've only lost Lacroix so far, which is a shame but he's not irreplaceable (though he hasn't been replaced) and we've spent what on a net basis? -£30m? room in the kitty for another centre-back surely?

And Johnson is gone.

Obviously, what Glasner did for Palace was undeniably incredible. However, there was always an air of frustration over pre-seasons and his lack of control in the transfer windows, which tainted his legacy. Personally, I could never figure it out. It felt like we held back because of his small-squad mantra, but he always wanted more quality.

While this season could be one of transition with so many new faces and a new boss, it's hard not to be optimistic about our long-term future with the amount of young talent we now have in the squad. Yeremy Pino, Adam Wharton, Chadi Riad, Justin Devenny, Matheus Franca, Anan Khalaili, David Ozoh, Romain Esse, Jaydee Canvot, Zavier Gozo are all under-23. Not to mention potential academy prospects like Joel Drakes-Thomas.

Add the new Main Stand to the mix and it feels like we are a team on the up rather than worrying about a potential decline post-Glasner. Maybe these words will come back to haunt me by May 2027!

I don't want to link directly to the Daily Mail so using his tweet instead...

That's now a couple of Palace ITKs who have pushed back against the idea going around that the reason Gozo hasn't been confirmed is because it's reliant on Esse's transfer to go through for SCR reasons

I’d love for him to stay, but with Khalaili and Gozo coming in, it’s questionable. We’re under 2 weeks - what shirt do you think he’s wearing come September?

Sage has stuck with a back three through pre-season, including the Freiburg game, so it doesn't look like he's planning a massive tactical overhaul just yet. But with Lacroix gone, the dynamic at the back is obviously going to be different. Having watched Sage’s Lyon and Lens sides, do you think he eventually tweaks things into a 4-2-3-1, or are we sticking with the back three for the long haul? Personally, I reckon he'll keep the 3-4-2-1 for now and gradually put his own spin on it rather than ripping up what was already working.