At Crystal Palace, the contracts of the coach and captain are expiring in the summer—both could be moving to Manchester. Oliver Glasner gives a few insights.
Oliver Glasner is unfazed by the fact that he is the bookmakers’ favorite to become the new head coach of Manchester United. “There’s a clause in my contract that prohibits me from betting. And I don’t concern myself with it either,” he explained casually, even if you don’t necessarily have to believe the latter statement. The successful Crystal Palace coach is ambitious enough to believe he could make the move to a major European club, and his contract expires in the summer. If ManUnited, as it appears, installs an interim coach by then, the rumors surrounding Glasner would certainly swell rather than subside.
Stay or go? Glasner wants to decide soon
First, however, the 51-year-old Austrian will sit down with Palace officials. “I think we will intensify talks in the coming weeks,” Glasner announced on Tuesday. This Wednesday, Palace, which has been playing almost exclusively midweek games since the first matchday, faces Aston Villa in the league, followed three days later by Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup. “After that, everyone gets three days off, followed by four regular weeks. We will push ahead with the talks then, and I expect us to make a final decision.”
Contract extension or departure? This question also arises for Glasner’s captain. In the summer, the coach prevented Marc Guehi’s transfer to Liverpool at the last minute, but now it looks set to happen in January. The background: the center back is still showing no signs of signing a new contract, and Manchester City could use him right now due to a sudden personnel shortage.
“Everyone wants him to play for Crystal Palace, sign a new contract, and stay here forever. On the other hand, there will come a point when the club says, ‘Now the financial aspect is more important than the sporting aspect.’ That’s why I say: I don’t know,” Glasner sounds very different from how he did in the summer, when he vehemently appealed to his superiors not to let Guehi leave.
“There will be a pain threshold,” Glasner continued. “If the player says, ‘I want to leave,’ and the money is above the pain threshold, it will happen. I’m not so naive that I don’t know it will happen if a huge offer comes in from City and Marc wants to do it.”