Crystal Palace are plotting a 2025 move to sign one of the stars of the Championship, but face competition from elsewhere in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace start season slowly
After a strong end to the 2023/24 campaign under Oliver Glasner, expectations were high for the 2024/25 season despite the loss of Michael Olise over the summer.
They strengthened in key areas with the arrivals of Eddie Nketiah, Daichi Kamada, Trevoh Chalobah and Ismaila Sarr, while they also kept hold of England duo Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi – with the latter subject to strong and persistent interest from Newcastle United.
However, the season has not yet gone to plan; six games into the season, they are yet to taste victory, and threw away a 1-0 lead against Everton to fall to a 2-1 defeat in their latest outing, dropping to just above the relegation zone in the process.
With three draws and three defeats to start the season, the feel-good atmsophere at Selhurst Park has disappeared, and they need to rediscover some momentum in their games to come.
Crystal Palace’s next 5 Premier League games
Liverpool (H)
Nottingham Forest (A)
Tottenham (H)
Wolves (A)
Fulham (H)
“We lost the momentum. At the end of the first-half, I could hear the crowd a little bit booing, and they were not really pleased with the performance of the home team, but we gave the momentum to Everton straight after half-time with an easy goal,” Glasner explained after the latest defeat.
“It was a long ball from [Jordan] Pickford, a stupid foul and then they got the second phase. Our players did everything at 2-1, you could see Everton were a little bit nervous, they celebrated every clearance.
“We have to stick together. You can roll your sleeves up. Our mentality is great, character is great, we have to get the momentum back and we will try next week against Liverpool.”
Crystal Palace in hunt to sign Championship star
Now, it has emerged that Crystal Palace are among the sides showing a strong interest in Championship star Anthony Patterson, who has been the subject of speculation in recent transfer windows.
The Sunderland shot-stopper, who has kept four clean sheets in seven games so far this season, has been impressing for the Black Cats for the last two years, and has pulled off some “unbelievable” saves in that time.
“I’ve got to praise Patta [Patterson] because that’s an unbelievable save. I think that justifies our belief that he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the league,” caretaker Sunderland boss Mike Dodds after their draw against Queens Park Rangers back in March.
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Now, clubs are circling, with transfer insider Alan Nixon revealing on Patreon that Crystal Palace were showing “a big interest” in Patterson as they seek competition for current No 1 Dean Henderson.
He won’t come cheaply, though, with Patterson still having four years left to run on his £10,000-a-week deal at the Stadium of Light, and Sunderland thought to be demanding around £20m to let him leave next summer. Matters are also complicated by interest from Manchester United, who are seeking cover for Andre Onana.
Palace have a strong reputation for developing Championship talent, with the performances of Eberechi Eze perhaps the clearest example of that after picking him up from QPR in 2020.
They will be hoping that reputation hands them an advantage in the race to sign Patterson.