Crystal Palace's Parish 'Astounded' By Scant Interest In Star Midfielder Eze

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Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was puzzled by the lack of interest in midfielder Eberechi Eze during the transfer window. Eze, who joined from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, has consistently impressed with his performances for the Eagles. The 26-year-old scored his first goal of the new Premier League season on Sunday, equalising in Palace's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Last season, Eze completed more dribbles (69) and created more chances (54) than any other player in the Palace squad. He also scored 11 goals in 27 league appearances. Despite these impressive stats, another top performer, Michael Olise, moved to Bayern Munich for £50 million. Parish expressed relief that they managed to retain at least one key player for the current campaign.

Palace received significant interest in defender Marc Guehi and turned down multiple bids from Newcastle, the highest being £65 million. Guehi had a standout performance for England at Euro 2024, starting every game on their way to the final in Harry Maguire's absence. Parish anticipated Guehi's departure but had to rethink plans due to Joachim Andersen's permanent move to Fulham and an injury to new signing Chadi Riad.

"I don't think the window worked out exactly as we thought it would," Parish told Sky Sports News. "Maybe we thought at the beginning it’d be more likely that Marc Guehi went and we kept Joachim Andersen. We accepted that bid [for Andersen] which then made it very difficult really to sell both of our starting centre-backs in one window."

The Eagles welcomed eight new players, including Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah on a permanent deal and Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah on loan on the final day of the window. However, Parish acknowledged that holding onto star players like Guehi would be challenging given the financial clout of other clubs in Europe.

"We’re proud of the fact that Michael Olise’s gone to Bayern Munich," said Parish. "We want to be selling to top clubs or clubs like Newcastle who’ve got great aspirations and have recently been in the Champions League."

Parish emphasised that Crystal Palace aims to attract great young talent by providing a pathway to bigger opportunities. "We won’t get really great young talent to come to us if they think they’re going to be stuck," he added. "We want to be playing in the Champions League. The reality is we don’t right now. That’s what players want to achieve in their career and we respect that."

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Despite not receiving expected interest for Eze, Parish remains optimistic about managing player transfers effectively while aiming for future success.