Oliver Glasner reveals Crystal Palace timeline for eight contract decisions

Crystal Palace’s recruitment team will begin discussions about the futures of eight soon-to-be out-of-contract players after next weekend.

The Eagles want to wait until they are mathematically safe from relegation before deciding which players to offer new deals and which to release. They have therefore shelved contract talks until the week commencing April 29.

As it stands, Joel Ward, Nathaniel Clyne, Will Hughes, Jairo Riedewald, James Tomkins, Nathan Ferguson and Remi Matthews are all set to become free agents on July 1. The same is true of Jeffrey Schlupp, though Palace retain the option to trigger an additional year extension clause in his current deal.

Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Cheick Doucoure, Sam Johnstone and Jordan Ayew have all signed new contracts with Palace this season.

“We spoke about the situation of the squad, of course, but we’ve decided not to talk until the end of next week”, manager Oliver Glasner said of Palace’s recruitment team.

“We’ve now got three games in six days, and we have full focus on these games. After we have played the Fulham game, we will talk.

“It is not 100 per cent clear that we will stay in the Premier League, so it doesn’t make sense talking about this [yet]. We want all the sheets on the table — then we will take final decisions.”

Palace are likely to release some of the eight players as free agents this summer.

Glasner said: “It's never personal, it’s just what is best for the squad — and it’s never one way. We don’t put them [players] in jail and say: ‘You have to stay at Crystal Palace’. We will [talk], but now is not the time.”

Dean Henderson kept a clean sheet at Anfield in last Sunday’s stunning 1-0 win over Liverpool, making a string of top saves.

Henderson said afterwards that he is hopeful of a call-up to England’s Euro 2024 squad alongside fellow goalkeepers Jordan Pickford and Aaron Ramsdale.

Glasner insisted he would deserve an England recall, saying: “With these performances, he would deserve to be in any national team all over the world.

“I don’t give any advice to any international manager, because Gareth Southgate knows all the other goalkeepers better than I do. But I’m really happy with Dean’s performances over the last weeks.

“You see his personal situation: he started with an injury and then on the bench right before we arrived. Sam [Johnstone] had an excellent game at Everton [in February] and I said [to Henderson]: ‘I don’t want to make a change again’.

“He accepted the situation and he worked really hard. Then the team needed him and he was ready. That’s the best you can do it. So yes, he would deserve it.”