Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner said Eberechi Eze will play for as long as he remains at the club and urged fans not to believe “rumours” the England international is about to be sold.
Amid reports of an imminent move, Eze was a surprise inclusion as Palace began their Premier League campaign with a goalless draw against a lacklustre Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
He looked to have delivered a potential parting gift to supporters with a brilliant first-half free-kick before VAR intervened controversially to disallow the goal.
Referee Darren England initially allowed Eze’s bullet finish after 15 minutes to stand, but a rarely-invoked rule stating an attacking player may not stand within a yard of the defensive wall at a free-kick meant the presence of Marc Guehi – another surprise starter amid interest from Liverpool – next to Moises Caicedo constituted a foul.
“We know the rule that you have to be one yard away from the wall,” said Glasner.
“At the beginning we were, maybe we stepped too early because you have to wait until the kicker kicks the ball. If this was the case then maybe it’s right.”
Palace have had talks with Tottenham over Eze and Arsenal are also reported to be keen to sign the midfielder, who scored the winner when the Eagles beat Manchester City to lift the FA Cup at Wembley in May, in light of which he was not expected to feature in west London.
The 27-year-old’s contract included a £68million release clause that expired on Friday, with neither Spurs nor Arsenal reportedly willing to go that high.
“As much as I know, Eze has a contract with Crystal Palace, he’s a Crystal Palace player and he showed it today,” said Glasner.
“As long as he is a Palace player and performs like this he will play for us. Nobody has told me something else.
“He was picked because he’s a Crystal Palace player and he’s a very good player. He trained the whole week so there was no reason not to pick him.
“The players are giving their answer (to press speculation) week by week. Last week winning against Liverpool on penalties (in the Community Shield) and here against the club world champions.
“Don’t always believe what you read, especially on the internet. And here it’s the same. Who knows that this is the truth, what is written? You’ve got rumours, so many rumours.”
After a truncated pre-season following victory in the Club World Cup, everything pointed to a Chelsea side lacking both preparation and rest as Glasner’s men coped relative easily with a new-look yet disjointed attack.
Playing 35 days after their win in the final against Paris St Germain, Enzo Maresca’s team bore signs of mental fatigue, particularly in a first half low on creativity.
Marc Cucurella came close with a header that was cleared off the line, while on their league debuts for the club Liam Delap and 18-year-old Brazil international Estevao Willian also missed chances.
However, Maresca was reluctant to blame limited pre-season preparations for a leggy display.
“I don’t think so, because in the end we competed, we tried to win the game,” he said. “We had some chances at the end with Estevao, with Andrey Santos. That showed probably we competed quite good.
“They (Palace) have played already seven or eight games, for us we played two friendly games where we tried to share minutes, so our first real game was today.
“(Estevao) was very good, he showed personality. He has already showed that in training. No doubt that slowly, slowly he will be a very important player for this club.”
