Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has blamed the club for selling Eberechi Eze with little time to find a replacement.
He recently admitted that he has been blindsided by the timing of the deal.
Speaking to the press, he accused the club’s hierarchy of sleepwalking through the transfer market while their prized asset’s exit looked inevitable.
According to him, the club must act quickly to fill the gap Eze’s exit will leave in the team, and it has to be the right player who can replicate the England international’s quality.
He stated that Eze having a release clause that could’ve been easily triggered should’ve prompted the club to be work on his replacement before now.
“I can’t do anything. I can’t sign a player’s contract. We have to act. We need this. This is Crystal Palace’s future. It’s easy to add numbers, we need to add the right players.
The profile has been defined for months, for months. Also it’s not surprising for everyone that Ebs left, because five days earlier we couldn’t have done anything if he leaves [due to a release clause].
We knew that this chance is very high that this would happen, and honestly, I say it like it is, we missed the chance to replace him early enough. That’s completely our fault, and nobody else’s fault,” he said.
Glasner further noted that he is currently planning without Eze, and he needs the fans and club to move on from him as quickly as possible.
He concluded by wishing Eberechi all the best in the future, stressing that he was a fantastic servant for the club.
“I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I think he won’t play for us again. So I have to prepare the team for Nottingham [Forest, in the Premier League on Sunday] and for the second leg against Fredrikstad, and I’m planning without Eberechi.
It is what it is. We’ve got to move past [it]. He’s been fantastic for the club. We all love him for what he’s done and achieved, and we’re pleased that he can go on and fulfil the other ambitions that he’s got. The king is dead, long live the king. We have to move past it and we have to find other players to bring in that can support the rest of the team and Oliver.
We will bring in players. It is about finding the right ones. It is difficult to replace players like that, and the squad was probably a little bit thin anyway. We will try and use the money and try to make ourselves, maybe not individually as good, but a bit broader with a stronger base. A few more options, that is what we will try and do,” he added.
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