Crystal Palace

Image source, CPFC

Forward Ismaila Sarr says he is "happy" to be joining the "good project" taking place at Crystal Palace.

The 26-year-old has signed a five-year-deal with the Eagles, believed to be for a fee around £12.5m.

He joins from Ligue 1 side Marseille, where he scored five goals and contributed six assists in 35 appearances.

Sarr has previous experience in the Premier League having spent four seasons with Watford, netting 34 goals and providing 22 assists in 131 games for the Hornets across all competitions.

"I am very happy to be here because Crystal Palace is a great club," the Senegal international told club media.

"Thanks to the coach and the sporting director – they told me about their project, and I accepted because it is a good project.

"I am going to work hard on the pitch and off the pitch for the team and for the fans as well."

Manager Oliver Glasner said of Palace's third signing of the summer: "We're happy that Ismaila has decided to join Crystal Palace because he knows the Premier League when he played at Watford, he knows living in England, and he also had many games with Marseille last season.

"In every year, in every club where he was, he's showed that he can score goals. He showed it as well in the national team for Senegal, so we are really pleased that he will join our group."

Chairman Steve Parish added: "We have been admirers of Ismaila for some time now and are delighted to be able to welcome him to the club.

"He is a player who has proven his ability both in English football and on the European and international stage, and I am confident he will be a valuable addition to Oliver’s squad."

We asked for your thoughts after Thursday's friendly game between Crystal Palace and Wolves.

Here are some of your comments:

Crystal Palace fans

Simon: Hard to gauge where we are at as most players only got 45 minutes but what is clear is the style under Oliver Glasner is taking shape. We pressed high, had chances and the goals were well taken. We looked a little vulnerable at the back and Dean Henderson made two excellent stops but overall, the win was merited. Still work to be done but Daichi Kamada looks like a bargain.

Clint: Really good outing. Very impressed by the youth in the second half as I feel that the future is bright for palace. Henderson was fantastic. All of the goals were amazing. On to West Ham.

Paul: It was a friendly, so you can’t take too much from the result. Having said that, it was valuable playing time for some of the young players that Palace have been developing. I can’t wait for the season to start as I feel the most positive I’ve felt in a long time.

Wolves fans

Bryce: We really need a better back-up keeper. For all Jose Sa's faults he does stop shots. Dan Bentley gives me the jitters every time the ball comes near and doesn’t inspire any confidence. We need to be faster at centre-back as well please if we are playing a back four. Goncalo Guedes is surprisingly showing real quality at last

Rich: Very poor in the second game, conceding some poor goals and basic defensive errors were seen too often. Wolves failed to do the basics right and showed transitioning to a defensive four won't be as easy as people are expecting. We have no pace at the back especially centrally, so work needs to be done in the transfer window to provide quality.

Neil Johnston
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, @AFCCROYDONATH

Among the clubs taking part in the FA Cup extra preliminary round this weekend are AFC Croydon Athletic whose co-owners include former Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha - now playing in Turkey at Galatasaray - and music superstar Stormzy.

The two friends were brought up in Croydon and in June 2023 it was announced they had bought their childhood hometown football club along with Danny Young, former head of player care at nearby Crystal Palace.

AFC Croydon Athletic play in the ninth tier of English football.

"Wilf and Stormzy don't just stand on the sidelines and watch," Brandon Pierrick, AFC Croydon Athletic's captain, tells me. "They come into the dressing room and are part of the squad and the camaraderie."

Pierrick, by the way, was playing with Zaha in the Premier League four years ago but his first league game of 2024-25 will be against Ramsgate on 10 August in the Isthmian League South East Division.

Read more on the story here

Image source, Getty Images

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner spoke to club media following the 3-1 win over Wolves in Annapolis.

He said: "We got a lot of information about the level we are playing at the moment. We struggled in some situations and we can see what we have to improve, but we can also see a lot of positive things. We are always able to score goals and create chances."

On the younger players involved on Palace's pre-season tour:

"They're all good guys, good talents, otherwise they wouldn't be here with us. They're very good characters.

"They still have many issues to work on, but this is what they're doing. They are listening and they are giving their best.

"This is what we demand from every player, giving your best every day. At the end, it's up to them how their career is going on. But they are great talents with different skills, and they showed it today."

Crystal Palace are open to letting 32-year-old forward Jordan Ayew leave this summer, with Leicester keen to sign the Ghana international. (Standard), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Image source, Wolves via Getty Images

Goals from Jeff Schlupp, Jordan Ayew and Asher Agbinone helped Crystal Palace secure victory over Wolves on Thursday with Santiago Bueno mustering a late response for Gary O'Neil's side.

What did you think about that performance, Palace fans?, external

Wolves supporters, did you learn anything from the game?, external

We asked for your views on the news that Crystal Palace are set to sign Ismaila Sarr from Marseille.

Here are some of your comments:

Paul: A bit of a bargain, especially considering that Watford wanted the best part of £35m only two years ago.

Simon: Squad depth is important and while Olise has gone, we will now have Kamada and Sarr to play in that position. With Franca, Rak Sakyi and even Jordan Ayew, we are not short of options. Time will tell if he can improve us. I hope we won't lose Rak Sakyi with his arrival. We lost Jake O'Brien due to not giving him a chance, let's not forget.

Kevin: Four years too late. Not sure he’s got the quality and is able to produce it consistently that we will demand now. But I hope I’m wrong.

George: We're finally making exciting signings which aren't just aimed at keeping us being an average club who finish mid-table every season. Olly has a vision and I'm fully backing it it.

Allan: I thought that he looked to be a talented player at Watford, as Man Utd fans will testify. However, the Watford fans felt that he was lazy. Let's hope that Glasner can light his enthusiasm.

Gary: Whoever we signed in place of Olise was going to be a downgrade. I liked Sarr at Watford but he was inconsistent. If he plays half as good as Olise then I suppose we have to be happy. It may prove to be a bargain at around £11m.

With Ismaila Sarr set to join the club on a five-year deal from Marseille for a fee in the region of £12.5m, we would like to hear your views on the signing.

How do you feel about him joining Palace fans?

Let us know here, external

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Players like Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund are already suffering from hamstring injuries two weeks before the season even starts - and they say the modern preparation regimes are better, safer and more scientific!

They probably are better. At least the players do not have to go through some of the borderline sadistic routines that previous generations did. Back then, after a decent length of summer break, pre-season meant working incredibly hard over a short period of time to get yourself back in top condition fast.

Sprinting up and down gigantic sand dunes against the clock until many players were physically sick was de rigueur, alongside other road runs and track work.

Here is the weird part: I used to look forward to that, the way a class swot looks forward to exams. Being smaller, lighter and a committed long-distance runner all my young life, even before I became a pro footballer, it was, if not exactly a piece of cake, then certainly much easier for me than most of the rest of the team.

I have asked many modern managers what they would prefer to do in a perfect world during their pre-season. The most common answer is "just about anything other than what we are forced to do now!"

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Aston Villa are interested in 27-year-old Crystal Palace and French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. (Express), external

Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

I browsed the BBC website today, scanning for the biggest story in the summer transfer window, but I kept on coming back to the same one.

The mighty Premier League has been dominant for years in terms of tempting players with its world wide appeal, tactical style, packed grounds and, oh alright yes, its financial pulling power.

This time however, the transfer ‘Ins and Outs’ list still has me staring longingly at the departure of Michael Olise from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich for an alleged £50m. Could no English club afford him?

Surely they could all see that he is a world class player in the making, as he has been playing against them every week and regularly making top class defenders look as nimble and balanced as back four of orcs from Middle Earth.

It could be just that Michael fancied Bayern and who would blame him for that? Palace certainly would prefer not to sell him to a direct rival, I get that too. There is the now ever-rumbling question that the financial rules in England appear to be hampering those who want to improve their squads.

I reckon Olise would have been perfectly at home at most top clubs in England. Then again maybe I am just ranting. He has been a joy to watch in the Premier League, among the most naturally talented players on the ball in the league.

In short I am going to miss him and so will the Premier League. I just hope Eberechi Eze isn’t similarly tempted.

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Image source, Getty Images

Pat Nevin, former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger writing in his Football Extra newsletter:

The pre-season friendlies are in full swing and let's be straight about this, the players generally hate these games, whatever they say.

They clearly haven't had enough rest in the summer, it is a grind getting your body back into peak shape, especially if the accumulated injuries from last season haven’t been allowed to fully recover.

The games themselves are weird affairs, where you would like to win but that is nowhere near the most important thing. Fitness, integrating new players, possibly a new manager and sometimes a new system are each more important. You also know full well that it is a hotch-potch of a team selection to give players minutes. The fans, mass media and social media will read far too much into every game and every performance.

From within the team itself, there are different motivations. A young or new player being given his first chance will be racing about like an overexcited spaniel. Other experienced players will be easing themselves back into it, the primary concern in their minds is to be fit and healthy come the first weekend of the Premier League season.

‌Deep down they don't worry if they get thumped by Celtic or DC United on their US tours, nobody at Chelsea or Aston Villa will remember or care about these results in two weeks' time.

‌Unless of course you are a DC or indeed Celtic fan. The Celts just beat Chelsea and Man City. Now that is impressive pre-season form or is that just Scottish bias.

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Crystal Palace and Ghana forward Jordan Ayew, 32, is wanted by Leicester City. (Sun), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

David Lockwood
BBC Sport Editorial Sustainability Lead

Image source, Getty Images

Los Angeles or Chesterfield? San Diego or Salford?

The pre-season destinations of 20 Premier League clubs may be varied, but the issue remains the same - the impact of so many flights.

Half (10) of the clubs have flown to the United States for friendlies; three have travelled to the Far East and the rest are in Europe and the UK.

Manchester United's pre-season schedule see them flying almost 13,000 miles playing fixtures in Norway, Scotland, and across the US. Chelsea and Tottenham are also expected to fly in excess of 12,000 miles.

In contrast, Everton will fly the least, with just one fixture outside the UK in the Republic of Ireland.

Spurs and Newcastle also played an exhibition fixture in May - three days after the season finished - for which they both flew to Melbourne, Australia, a game Alan Shearer described as “madness”. Add in those air miles and both teams will have travelled in excess of 30,000 air miles in the close-season, equivalent to more than once around the globe, to play in non-competitive matches.

Newcastle and Spurs both have a target to be Net Zero by 2030, while Manchester United and Chelsea are in process of establishing an emissions reduction plan.

Net Zero requires the reduction and removal of all 'non-essential emissions' - so are these games essential?

Wycombe's David Wheeler is a leading sustainability campaigner in football and told BBC Sport: "These games are only necessary in the sense that the clubs want to make more money and grow their fan base".

He added: "The vast majority of players don't want to be away from their families, they don't want to be travelling around the world after a full slog of a season. They're overworked and injuries have gone through the roof, so there is a synergy between player welfare and planetary welfare."

An estimated travelling group of 30 flying 12,864 air miles business class generates around 200 tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of 500,000 miles driven by an average petrol car, or the entire annual emissions for a year of 16 people in the UK.

Tottenham said it is "committed to minimising its environmental impact" in all its operations, "which will take time and effort". The club says it "ensures" all teams travel "as sustainably as possible throughout the season". It "measures, manages and reports on travel emissions" and will offsets "where possible."

Read more about the Premier League's pre-season air miles here

We asked for your views on Crystal Palace's 6-3 win against Crawley.

Here are some of your comments:

Rich: Nice work out, very fast start and with eight players missing the first XI looked like a decent Glasner side, pressing well. Second half shows concerns that Olise's money needs to spent on improvements but an entertaining game. Kamada and Riad seem OK but not tested yet.

Al: Another useful workout and encouraging to see Jesurun Rak-Sakyi on the scoresheet again. Would like to see Ebiowei given more playing time rather than a cameo role at the end, which makes no sense. With seven players to come back from international duty the squad will be looking to impress Glasner. Can't wait for the proper season to start.

Philip: A reasonable performance given two of the Crawley goals came after comical slips from Anderson and Ward. It could have been even a higher score for Palace. The new signings in Kamada and Riad look good and still awaiting the return of Lerma, Munoz, Eze, Wharton, Henderson and Guehi.

Darren: Hopefully now palace fans will stop constantly moaning about Edouard. Three goal contributions in 27 minutes. I understand it's against Crawley, but he still clearly is a good finisher and good at link-up play. Do not sell him!

What did you make of that performance, Palace fans? How do you feel about the Eagles' start to pre-season?

Let us know your thoughts here, external

The Premier League season is fast approaching and clubs are continuing their pre-season preparations.

Here are the teams in action on a busy Saturday.

All times BST