Oliver Glasner confirms Palace departure in the summer, said that the decision was made well before in October.
Oliver Glasner, who told chair Steve Parish in October that he wanted a new challenge and that captain Marc Guéhi was close to joining Manchester City, has revealed he will leave Crystal Palace at the conclusion of this season.
The Austrian, whose contract expires in the summer, has been connected to Manchester United in recent weeks. He led Palace to their first major trophy when they won the FA Cup last season. In the run-up to Palace’s match against Sunderland on Saturday, Glasner announced that he would be leaving the club, despite having stated last week that he was planning more conversations with Parish to settle his future.
“A decision has already been taken, months ago,” said Glasner. “I had a meeting with Steve in October, the international break. We had a very long talk, and I told him: ‘I will not sign a new contract.’ We agreed at the time it was best to keep it between us. It’s the best that we could do that and keep it confidential for three months. But now it’s important to have clarity, and we had a very busy schedule so that’s why we didn’t want to talk about it. Steve and I want the best for Crystal Palace.”
He also revealed that Guéhi would not be part of Palace’s squad that travels to the north-east, with City closing in on signing the England defender. He said: “My latest understanding is that a deal with Marc is in the final stages. I can’t confirm a club, because it’s still not done but it’s in the final stages. The result is that Marc doesn’t play tomorrow for us.”
As Palace started its maiden European campaign in the Conference League, Glasner, who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, was open about his displeasure with the team. The 51-year-old implied that his future might be elsewhere prior to Macclesfield’s crushing FA Cup loss last week when he stated that nothing that transpired during the transfer window would influence his choice to stay. On Friday, he asserted that his bond with Parish was still solid.
“We have a great relationship and we’re always talking about what is best for Crystal Palace,” he said.
“I haven’t spoken to any other club, I told the players that and promised them today I will give my best to give the best season in Crystal Palace history, the best points tally in history. We are now four points better off than we were at this stage of the season and we will do everything to bring another trophy back to Selhurst Park. We had the Conference League draw today, we will play Zrinjski Mostar from Bosnia in the playoff draw and I had a look at the draw tree – it’ll be quite interesting who we could play in our section.”