May 1 2026

Selhurst Park

After the highs of the 2024/25 campaign where Crystal Palace achieved qualification to Europe, those associated with the Eagles felt it then went a bit pear shaped, writes Ben Mortimer.

But clearly the Crystal Palace board are looking to kick on again next season and are reportedly ready to sanction a big money move for Wolverhampton Wanderers' Brazilian international Joao Gomes.

Following on from all the UEFA regulation nonsense and City Ground 'gamesmanship', the 2025/26 season has been a poor one domestically and Palace sit in 13th place in the table with the curtain closer almost upon us. The Europa Conference League campaign has been far more rewarding though, but for most fans where to buy Premier League tickets is often the first practical question. As we know we are still to complete our semi final double header against Shakhtar Donetsk, but with the frustrations of the summer it has clearly effected us.

The whole Marc Guehi transfer situation, Jean-Philippe Mateta's situation and not least Oliver Glasner's own 'let's go public' meltdown have been serious distractions, but whatever now happens during this summer's off season break, a move for Gomes would certainly imply that the board are looking to draw a very definite line in the sand as we move forward.

With the Midlands side already having had their relegation back to the Championship confirmed this year given their woeful tally of only three wins all season so far, many are expecting a Molineux Stadium fire sale and the 25 year old Flamengo and 10 capped Brazilian is one of the players already reportedly in demand according to the transfer window speculation rumour mill.

In some corners of the media Gomes has been valued at around the £60 million mark, but with relegation hitting a far more likely fee would be in the region of £40 million and would still represent a significant uplift on the claimed 18.7 million Euros they initially paid - it also leaves plenty of negotiation wriggle room.

Palace are obviously not the only club being linked with having an interest in him, as although it is claimed that we have already held opening talks with his representatives over doing a deal, Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid are also apparently sniffing around.

In fairness he did have a very poor season, with only one goal and three assists registered during his 38 games so far across all competitions, but given their struggles and form many believe he remained a bright spark in their otherwise incredibly poor campaign.

We will have to ultimately see what happens with this speculation here as some certainly feel that Atletico Madrid would be in pole position here to capture his signature, but that could come down to whether or not they land their other claimed top targets.

Presumably game time would be an issue as he looks to solidify his place in the Brazilian national side and with the continued expectation that fellow midfielder Daichi Kamada will be moving on when they Japanese player becomes a free agent this summer, more regular pitch action becomes far more plausible with us.