Crystal Palace start 2026-27 Premier League with Pierre Sage after Glasner's July exit
Pierre Sage will lead Crystal Palace into the 2026-27 Premier League season after Oliver Glasner left for Nottingham Forest in early July, weeks after Palace won the Conference League at the end of May. Supporters will not see Sage take charge at Selhurst Park until Forest’s scheduled visit in October.
Glasner’s departure followed a period of unprecedented success that included three trophies in 12 months, prompting disappointment among supporters when he moved to Forest despite Pierre Sage having been named his successor three weeks earlier. Sage inherits a squad preparing for a Europa League campaign and a defence recently weakened by the exit of Maxence Lacroix, while Daichi Kamada’s decision to sign a new one-year contract keeps eight of the FA Cup final starters at the club for now.
Palace’s transfer activity and recent deals have shaped the club’s financial flexibility ahead of the new season. The club spent around £80m on Jørgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson in January and later agreed a swap deal with Everton that sent Johnson to Goodison Park in exchange for Dwight McNeil, a sequence the article says has restricted Palace’s budget this summer. That tightening of resources comes as Crystal Palace attempt to retain Daniel Muñoz, Adam Wharton and Ismaïla Sarr, with Muñoz attracting interest from Saudi Arabia.
Work on Selhurst Park’s new main stand finally began this summer, almost a decade after plans were announced, with the project expected to cost at least £150m and to be completed in late 2028 or early 2029, increasing capacity to 34,000. The financial demands of the redevelopment are cited as complicating matters off the pitch, with Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Woody Johnson reportedly looking to sell their combined 79% stake in the club. Chair Steve Parish, who helped rescue the club from administration in 2010 and led Palace to their first major trophy, is tasked with persuading existing owners to stay or finding new partners, though many fans blame him for not strengthening the squad after last season’s FA Cup success.
Palace are also operating without the sporting-director role once filled by Dougie Freedman, who left for Saudi Arabia in March, a departure the piece links to a loss of his calming influence and talent-spotting. The club’s recruitment this summer includes Óscar Mingueza, signed on a free transfer after his contract with Celta Vigo expired; the former Barcelona defender is described as capable on the right of a back three, preferring a wing-back role, and was outstanding for Celta last season. Mingueza, 27, has four senior Spain caps, made 66 appearances, came through La Masia and missed out on Spain’s World Cup squad, and his sister Ariadna also plays for Spain.
Pierre Sage’s managerial resume is outlined as relatively short but notable: he was promoted to interim manager at Lyon in November 2023 after a background in youth coaching, stopped playing at 24 to concentrate on coaching, and later moved to Lens where he guided the side to second in Ligue 1 and a Coupe de France victory. The 47-year-old lasted only a year in his first senior role before moving to Lens, has yet to manage 100 professional matches and, the article notes, his appointment is viewed as risky while Palace hope he provides stability.
Improving Palace’s attacking output is presented as a major on-field challenge: only seven Premier League teams generated more expected goals in open play than Palace in 2025-26, and only Wolves scored fewer, leaving Palace with a gap of 0.31 expected goals per game — the second-worst mark cited behind Pisa’s 0.36 in Serie A. At the same time the club is promoting youth talent: Joél Drakes-Thomas made his senior debut in the Conference League aged 16 years and 192 days in December and then became Palace’s youngest-ever Premier League player two days later, having been a regular for England Under-16s and starring as part of the Under-18 side that won the Premier League Cup in April.
Tournament form for Palace players during the summer is recorded in specific contributions: Yéremy Pino amassed 69 minutes across two substitute appearances for Spain in the group stage before a collarbone injury ruled him out of the rest of the tournament, yet he received a winners’ medal as the first Palace player to do so; Ismaïla Sarr scored four goals for Senegal while Daichi Kamada and Daniel Muñoz added to a Palace total of eight at the competition; and Dean Henderson became the first Palace player to appear for England in a World Cup finals match in the third-place playoff against France.
Supporters will expect Sage to balance domestic and European demands while the club addresses defensive leadership, transfer priorities and the long-term financing of the Selhurst Park redevelopment, with the next high-profile test arriving when Nottingham Forest visit in October.