September 3 2026

Selhurst Park

It turned into quick the busy Deadline Day for Crystal Palace, writes Ben Leyland.

Although we eventually lost out to Sunderland in the chase for Lyon winger Malick Fofana, who moved for around £30 million, we added Ben Chilwell, Quinten Timber and Dario Osorio to our ranks late on.

It has been a difficult start to life at Selhurst Park for new manager Pierre Sage, who succeeded the departed Oliver Glasner, and the Frenchman has already had several fires to put out during a particularly eventful transfer window.

Now that Deadline Day is over, football betting today will feature far different odds, given that Palace have negotiated the final stages of the window reasonably well on balance. Daniel Munoz completed a prominent late move to Nottingham Forest, but there were no further high-profile departures on Deadline Day itself. At least on paper, we have also plugged several of the gaps in the squad that everyone knew needed to be addressed.

The 21-cap England international Chilwell, 29, joins following a season with Strasbourg during the 2025/26 campaign. He will be looking to build significantly on the 11 appearances he made during his previous loan spell with Palace while still a Chelsea player.

Timber’s name will already be familiar to many Premier League followers because Quinten is the twin brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien. The 25-year-old midfielder arrived with 13 senior caps for the Netherlands and spent time in the academies of both Feyenoord and Ajax before making his senior breakthrough with FC Utrecht. He joins from Marseille on a five-year contract running until 2031.

Osorio, 22, arrives from Danish Superliga side Midtjylland. The right-sided attacker has earned 25 caps for Chile and joins Palace on loan for the 2026/27 season, with the club holding an option to buy him.

It makes for an interesting window for Palace supporters. We already know what Chilwell can offer after seeing him make 11 appearances during his previous spell and help the club lift the FA Cup. His experience, positional awareness and leadership should also prove valuable in the dressing room as Sage attempts to establish himself at the club.

Timber should strengthen the midfield unit. Although he may be relatively unknown to some of the fan base, chairman Steve Parish has praised his leadership and tenacity. Osorio, meanwhile, made 121 appearances for Midtjylland, scoring 25 goals and providing 18 assists, so Palace will hope he can offer the front line something different.

Another particularly intriguing addition is Honest Ahanor, who has joined on a season-long loan from Italian Serie A side Atalanta. At virtually the same time, Chelsea agreed a permanent deal to sign him from Atalanta in the summer of 2027, making for a highly entertaining final 24 hours of the window. Despite the unusual structure of the deal and the resulting press coverage, Palace can expect the 18-year-old defender to play a significant part this season.

The defender, whose future Chelsea transfer is reportedly worth around £40 million, has already won two senior caps for Italy. He also made 35 appearances for Atalanta last season, including nine in the Champions League.

With Oscar Mingueza, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Dwight McNeil, Anan Khalaili and Zavier Gozo also arriving on permanent deals, along with loan moves for Axel Disasi and the returning Evann Guessand, it will be fascinating to see how Sage moulds his new squad together.