Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner and club chairman Steve Parish are seemingly conflicted over the sale of centre-back Marc Guehi.
The England international, 25, has been the subject of mounting interest from Premier League champions Liverpool in recent weeks.
Guehi has less than a year left on his contract at Selhurst Park and the Eagles are believed to value him at around £45million, though Liverpool consider that figure steep given he could leave for free next summer.
Talks have been ongoing between the two clubs and are expected to continue in the coming days, with the centre-back viewed as a potential long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk, now 34.
In a worrying statement following Palace’s 1-0 Europa Conference League play-off victory over Fredikstad on Thursday, Steve Parish admitted he may be left with little choice but to sell Guehi in the coming days.
‘If Marc Guehi wants to sign a contract, he can stay,’ the chairman said.
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner and Steve Parish are seemingly conflicted over the sale of Marc Guehi
Guehi has been the subject of interest from Liverpool this summer
‘It’s a difficult situation, everyone has to sell players to comply with the rules. That’s a situation that we will have to look at in the next days.’
It was an interview which Glasner undermined just minutes earlier in his post-match press conference.
The Palace boss said Guehi ‘has to stay’, and even joked that he may need to lace up his boots amid the Eagles struggles at centre-back.
‘We are very, very late to find replacements,’ the Austrian admitted.
‘I think we could have behaved much better than we did. It’s not the best way to start the season. I think we are below the edge.
‘If Marc [Guehi] leaves maybe I will try my boots because I was a centre back. We have to act. It’s Crystal Palace’s future and we need to add numbers.’
The Eagles have only brought in Borna Sosa from Ajax and goalkeeper Walter Benitez on a free transfer so far this summer, and now look set to lose talesman Eberechi Eze.
Palace meanwhile now look set to lose Eberechi Eze after he missed Thursday’s Europa League Conference play-off
The talented No 10 is expected to join Arsenal after they hijacked Spurs’ deal for him
With his move to Arsenal expected to be completed imminently, the No 10 reported an illness on Thursday ahead of the Conference League tie.
Glasner admitted Eze likely won’t pull on the red and blue stripes of Crystal Palace again after the match.
‘He doesn’t feel well,’ he said.
And, when pressed on Eze’s absence again after the game, the Austrian told Channel 5: ‘Ebs will not play for us anymore so it does not make sense to talk about him. It’s gone.’
Glasner later told the post-match press conference: ‘I have to apologise to all of you because I didn’t tell the truth yesterday.
‘I thought he would play… he called me and said he didn’t feel well. You have to ask him (why), maybe in a few days. No (I don’t think he will play for the club again).’
A clearly frustrated Palace boss continued to be asked what Palace need to do in the final days of the window.
‘It’s clear now I can’t do anything,’ he said. ‘I can’t sign the players. We have to act and we need this. This is Crystal Palace’s future.
‘We need to add not numbers, we need the right players. The profile is defined for months, it’s not surprising Ebs left.’
Palace chairman Steve Parish was also quick to pay tribute to Eze when speaking post match.
He told Channel 5: ‘He’s been fantastic for the club and we’re pleased that he’s going to fulfill the ambitions that he’s got.
‘The King is dead, long live the King. We have to try use the money and give ourselves a stronger base.’
