Crystal Palace must reverse surprising Romain Esse decision after Oliver Glasner axe
Crystal Palace’s latest view on the future of Romain Esse must be altered as he continues to struggle for game-time in their senior side under Oliver Glasner.
Romain Esse has not been able to nail down a consistent place in Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace squad since he joined the club from Millwall in the last January window.
Football Insider revealed in January that Palace and Bournemouth were interested in Esse, and he made the move to the Eagles before going on to score with his first touch for the club in the Premier League against Brentford.
The England youth international rarely featured from then on, and his lack of minutes have continued into this season with just two first-team appearances in 2025-26 so far.
Esse has been consigned to playing for Palace’s Under-21 side in recent weeks, despite making over 70 appearances in first-team football up to now, and the club’s apparent plans for him this season should soon be changed if he continues to struggle for game-time.
Palace should let Esse out on loan in January despite ‘no plans’ to allow him to depart
Esse has not even appeared in Palace’s matchday squad for any of their last three league games, but he has notched two goals and assists each in three Premier League 2 matches, so is clearly operating above the level required to play for their Under-21s.
According to a new report from Sky Sports (7 October), there are currently no plans to sanction a loan move for Esse in January despite his recent struggles, and the club retain “full belief” in his talent and potential.
Palace have reportedly been impressed by the manner in which the 20-year-old has conducted himself in recent months despite his woes, and there are no questions about his attitude, yet it certainly seems unlikely that he becomes a regular under Glasner anytime soon.
The Austrian boss recently led his side to an unprecedented 19-game unbeaten run, which was a club-record prior to their 2-1 loss to Everton, and they currently sit sixth in the top-flight.
They have clearly not needed Esse at any point towards the end of last season and the start of this one, and the fact he failed to appear in either of their Conference League qualifying games shows that he will surely not be trusted in the league stage or beyond.
Even though he is understandably impressing for their academy side, those showings alone are unlikely to thrust him back into Glasner’s plans, so the Eagles should realistically be allowing him out on loan in January.
A move to a promotion-chasing Championship club who place an emphasis on wide men and individual trickery, like former employers Millwall, would surely be the ideal move for the 20-year-old after the turn of the year, especially if the alternative is him either playing for the Palace U21s or sitting on the first-team bench.
Glasner urged Esse to improve after poor Palace showing against former club
It’s not as if Esse has proven that he has what it takes to make an impact at first-team level this season, with his poor performances against Nottingham Forest and Millwall enough for Glasner to see fit to drop him into the youth set-up.
He was handed a rare start against the Lions in the FA Cup last month, with the hope clearly being that he would have a point to prove, yet Esse was taken off at half-time after a poor showing and was then called out by his boss following the game.
Glasner said: “I don’t want to talk about a single player, but if you sub someone at half-time, you are not pleased with his performance. It’s simple, football is not so difficult. When you get a chance, you have to perform and show you can help the team win the game.
“If I have a feeling a player can help the team win a game, he gets many minutes. If I get the feeling a player doesn’t help a team win the game, he doesn’t get many minutes.
“He’s a nice guy, I like him as a person. But I’m not being paid to be a nice person, I’m being paid to win games. If anybody shows that he can help to win games, he will play many minutes. It’s up to the player to improve.
“I don’t want to talk about Romain the whole time, it’s not fair. I will talk to him in person. It’s up to him, so let’s see.”
Esse was urged to hand in a transfer request by Palace fans recently, amid his lack of game-time, and it is clear that he is facing an uphill battle to play for the Eagles regularly despite the expectation that he will stay at the club for the whole campaign.