Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has confirmed that Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi will start Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off against Norwegian side Fredrikstad, despite heavy transfer speculation surrounding both players.
Liverpool are in talks with Palace over a possible £35m deal for England defender Guehi, while Tottenham are keen to snap up forward Eze before the 1 September transfer deadline.
Both players featured in the Eagles’ goalless draw with Chelsea last weekend and Glasner insists they will remain key for as long as they stay at Selhurst Park.
“Many of you were surprised that Eze and Marc started against Chelsea,” Glasner said. “You may be surprised again tomorrow, but they are committed to the team. If they leave, they want to leave as the guys who gave 100% to Crystal Palace.”
Palace Staying Positive Despite Speculation
Eze and Guehi were instrumental in Palace’s historic FA Cup win last season, which brought the club their first major trophy. Losing them would be a huge setback, but goalkeeper Dean Henderson is confident the team can cope.
“We’ve lost players before and still delivered the best times this club has ever seen,” Henderson explained. “When Michael Olise left, people doubted us, but we went on to have the best-ever season in 119 years. You have to trust the manager and the process. We’ll be fine.”
Embracing European Nights at Selhurst
Palace had originally qualified for the Europa League, but UEFA demoted them to the Conference League due to multi-club ownership rules. Glasner is determined to move past the controversy and focus on the positives.
“This is the last time I’ll speak about it,” he told reporters. “We deserved Europa League football as FA Cup champions, but we’ll prepare for this competition. It’s the first time European football will be played at Selhurst Park, and we will enjoy it. For our fans, it’s still something very special.”
Fredrikstad, who currently sit eighth in Norway’s top flight, will visit Selhurst Park for the first leg on Thursday night, with kick-off at 20:00 BST.
Palace supporters may be nervous about losing star names before the deadline, but for now, they can look forward to a historic night under the lights in south London.
