Exclusive: Crystal Palace Europa League latest ‘definitely not good news’ – expert
Crystal Palace’s European hopes look set to be dashed despite John Textor selling his shares in the Premier League club.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that the Eagles’ challenge for European football is likely to be heading for an appeal.
Despite qualifying for the Europa League after beating Man City in the FA Cup final, Palace’s qualification to the competition was thrown into doubt thanks to Textor’s ownership of French side Lyon.
Both teams qualified for the competition, and the American businessman’s majority shareholding of the two clubs violates UEFA‘s rules on multi-club ownership.
Textor then sold his shares in Palace to Woody Johnson in the hopes that the European governing body would look favourably on the Eagles’ bid to secure a place in the Europa League.
The Premier League club looked to have received a boost when Lyon were relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial issues, as UEFA would have likely barred them from entry into Europe.
However, the French club have been reinstated to Ligue 1 and given they finished higher in their respective league last year, they take precedence over Palace for a spot in the Europa League.
Crystal Palace European place in doubt
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley explained that Lyon’s reinstatement to Ligue 1 was “definitely not good news for Palace”, and that UEFA are likely to share a decision on the Premier League club in “a couple of days”.
He said: “Yeah, this is going to get really interesting now. Probably less so if you’re a Crystal Palace fan, unfortunately.
“Everything we’re seeing suggests that it’s likely that this news now puts Palace’s place in the Europa League in doubt again.
“We’ll find out in a couple of days what UEFA are thinking here.
“I think it’s likely that Palace will challenge that as well. I think you’ll likely see an appeal as well from Palace, so it could drag a little bit longer.
“And of course, that’s not ideal because these competitions come around pretty quickly and need to be formalised in terms of the team line-up.
“So yeah, I think this news in particular [Lyon avoiding relegation] is definitely not good news for Palace as it stands.
“We’ll wait and see how UEFA look to tackle that, but I think what we’re looking likely to be heading for is if it doesn’t go Palace’s way, it’s likely that they’ll appeal.”
Bayern Munich target Eberechi Eze
As if potentially losing their place in Europe wasn’t bad enough, Mick Brown told Football Insider that Bayern Munich are targeting Palace star Eberechi Eze.
The Bavarian side missed out on Florian Wirtz to Liverpool earlier in the window and will be without Jamal Musiala for at least four months after the 22-year-old suffered a horror injury against PSG.
Bayern are in need of a number ten and Eze has been identified as an option to fill the void in Vincent Kompany’s squad.
Whilst the funds from the sale of the England international will be a boost to Palace, replacing their key man will prove especially difficult if they are left without the allure of European football.