William Gallas has revealed that he almost signed for Crystal Palace in the summer of 2013, during his hunt for a new club, with the former Tottenham captain visiting the Eagles’ Copers Cope training ground to discuss a deal.
The 39-year-old spoke about the moment he left Spurs after three years at White Hart Lane in an interview with FourFourTwo. After 12 years in London, having already played for Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as his most departed club Tottenham, Gallas was open to stay in London and move to yet another team in the capital.
He ended up moving to Australia to join Perth Glory, a club of which that Gallas ended his career with in October 2016. On the way though, his agent spoke to West Ham, Gallas spoke to Palace, as well as attempting to go back to Marseille and move to Monaco.
“I think my agent actually did talk with [West Ham], but I am not 100 per cent sure,” said Gallas.
“What I clearly recall, though, is that I had a meeting with Crystal Palace in the summer of 2013. Ian Holloway was manager at the time and we met at the training ground to discuss a deal, but it didn’t come off in the end.
“During the same summer I tried to go back to Marseille, to offer them my experience, but they didn’t offer me a deal despite me saying that I would halve my salary.
“I also spoke to Claudio Ranieri, who was the manager of Monaco. He seemed happy to sign me but later explained that the board had ruled it out. In the end I signed for Perth Glory.”
