Oliver Glasner, the manager of Crystal Palace, has spoken candidly about his choice to leave Christantus Uche of the Super Eagles out of the team’s updated UEFA Conference League roster. He said he spoke with the Nigerian directly to explain the decision.
The squad registration regulations and January arrivals at Selhurst Park influenced the decision, which had nothing to do with performance.
Due to the fact that Palace only had three club-trained players available for Europe, its roster was restricted to 24 players.
One player had to step aside because new recruits Evann Guessand, Brennan Johnson, and Jorgen Strand Larsen all needed to be registered. The unfortunate casualty was Uche.
According to Glasner, “some have to be club-trained, some have to be association-trained.”
We could only change three players since Caleb Khorha is on the squad because he complies with this rule. All three of the new players we signed were attackers. We have Strand Larsen and Eddie Nketiah, and I can plainly envision Uche as a No 9. I couldn’t drop an attacker to add a false nine because the team needed to be well-balanced. I usually express my opinions and motives, yet he was disappointed. He trained well after accepting it.
The 22-year-old, who came to Palace with potential but struggled to get opportunities, signed on a season-long loan from Getafe CF in Spain last summer. He has only started three games and played 491 minutes of football throughout all competitions.
Europe had given him a platform to present his argument. He scored in a 3-0 victory over Shelbourne in December and then finished brilliantly in a 2-2 draw with KuPS. He received 75.6% of the fan voting with that performance, earning him the Palace’s Goal of the Month honor for December.
However, the Premier League’s statistics paint a different picture. If he starts ten league games this season, an obligation-to-buy clause in his loan agreement will be activated.
Given the heightened competition and the fact that his name is no longer on the European roster, that criterion seems improbable.
The attacking ranks are already overcrowded due to Strand Larsen’s £43 million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Jean-Philippe Mateta is anticipated to return before the season concludes. There doesn’t seem to be much room for regular first-team involvement.
Uche is expected to rejoin Getafe at the end of the season unless there are significant changes in his situation.
