Pierre Sage is in the building and his first order of business will be to sign a central defender for Crystal Palace as Maxence Lacroix is locked in talks to sign for Chelsea.
TEAMtalk report that the Eagles, however, have rejected the chance to sign four Chelsea players as potential sweeteners in the deal for the French international.
Palace have been linked with a move for Charlie Cresswell, who has earned rave reviews for his performances in Ligue 1 with Toulouse.
They are in the market for a central defender or two, but none of them will be from Chelsea as they have made their intentions very clear.
Crystal Palace reject Chelsea transfer idea
Lacroix is in talks to sign for the Blues and Xabi Alonso has greenlit the signing.
The French international is currently at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and his future is likely to be sorted after the competition concludes.
In the meantime, though, Palace have rejected opportunities to sign Benoit Badiashille, Trevor Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi, who are all in the market this summer.
Chelsea hoped they could use one of their out-of-favour stars to reduce the price for Lacroix, but that won’t be the case as the Eagles have their own plans and want to evaluate their options.
The report also states that they have narrowed down on Cresswell, who prefers a move to Selhurst Park despite interest from Leeds United and newly-promoted Coventry City.
What next for Crystal Palace?
Cresswell has developed admirably in recent seasons and is no stranger to English football, having represented Leeds and Millwall as a youngster.
The Eagles, however, have made it clear that they won’t dance to Chelsea’s tunes by taking a deal for one of their out-of-favour stars, which is a sign that Sage has his own plans in place.
Palace signed Jaydee Canvot from Toulouse last summer and will look to use their past relationship with the Ligue 1 club to good effect in negotiations for Cresswell.
Ultimately, they need at least one top-class central defender to arrive this summer as they also lost Marc Guehi in January, who signed for Manchester City.
With Adam Wharton also linked with a Crystal Palace departure, Sage’s first summer in charge of the club won’t be easy.
And the Eagles need to get it right in the market to build on Oliver Glasner’s exploits at the club, especially with UEFA Europa League football also part of their schedule next season.
