Crystal Palace’s squad is absolutely stacked with quality, and the players are now being handed the freedom to truly showcase their ability week in, week out.
However, there’s one player above all who’s starred this season despite missing 18 games through injury, and that gem is Michael Olise.
The tricky French winger has taken his performances to a whole new level this campaign, scoring ten goals and providing five assists in just 13 starts.
Those statistics are without doubt remarkable, and Olise’s value to the team is almost priceless, but there’s one individual who’s reported to be worth much more than the 22-year-old.
Crystal Palace’s season before Oliver Glasner
Under the reign of Roy Hodgson this season, it’s fair to say that it was a completely uninspiring time to be a Palace fan.
Results were increasingly becoming a huge issue, while the performances actually grew to be even more frustrating than the outcome, with the team scoring just 1.12 goals per game on average.
Leading up to the departure of the 76-year-old, Palace had won just twice in 15 matches across all competitions, the sort of form that would put any club’s Premier League status on the line.
Luckily, just like Steve Parish’s recruitment of players, he seems to have hit the jackpot on Hodgson’s replacement, with Oliver Glasner completely changing the culture at the club.
Oliver Glasner’s impact at Palace
Since arriving in February, the former Eintracht Frankfurt boss has been absolutely instrumental, installing his philosophy and approach into the team extremely quickly.
The “incredible” coach, as dubbed by journalist Stefan Bienkowski, has certainly lived up to that description since joining the Premier League.
The Eagles are now boasting a goal-per-game average of 1.7, and they’ve won six of their 12 games with Glasner in charge, the same amount as Hodgson in 24 matches.
Furthermore, there’s no better evidence of Glasner’s influence on the side than the transformation of Jean-Phillipe Mateta, who’s now scored 13 Premier League goals this season, netting ten of those under the Austrian.
| Crystal Palace’s Record Sales | |
|---|---|
| Player | Fee |
| Aaron Wan-Bissaka | £47m |
| Yannick Bolasie | £25m |
| Alexander Sorloth | £17m |
| Dwight Gayle | £10m |
| Wilfried Zaha | £10m |
| Via Transfermarkt | |
As a result of his impact, Glasner has become by far the highest-valued person at the club, after German outlet Bild reported that Palace have slapped an £86m asking price on his name after a recent approach from Bayern Munich.
This now means that the 49-year-old is worth even more than Olise, and even Eberechi Eze, who are both reported to be valued at £60m by Palace, as per the BBC, which seemingly makes them the two most valuable players at the club.
It’s previously been reported by the Guardian that Glasner is contracted to Palace until 2026 with the option to extend for another year, while earning a salary of around £4.5m per season.
Given the asking price of Palace and the impact he’s already had on the club, that seems to be one of the bargains of the season, and if his side continue to perform, the Eagles should expect a few knocks on their door.
Therefore, despite the continuous talk regarding Eze and Olise bringing in a huge sum for their signatures, it could be the new boss that boosts the profits for Parish and co at Selhurst Park.
