Crystal Palace boss asked about Dougie Freedman being linked with Man United recruitment role

Oliver Glasner admitted he was not surprised to see Dougie Freedman being linked with a recruitment role at Manchester United – but the Austrian coach is expecting to be working with the Crystal Palace sporting director for a “long time”.

Former Palace striker Freedman returned to the Eagles as sporting director in 2017 and has managed to bring the likes of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Cheick Doucoure and Marc Guehi to Selhurst Park.

It was reported this week that the Red Devils were expected to make an approach for the 49-year-old.

Freedman was heavily involved in the appointment of Glasner to replace Roy Hodgson.

Glasner said: “It shows me what I was thinking – here [at Palace] there is a great sporting director and a great person. This is how I see Dougie after two weeks and a lot of talks with him.

“He knows all the players all over the world.  He is a fantastic guy. He is a great person and a sporting director. If there are these rumours, it shows other clubs see it in the same way. 

“I don’t know if it’s true or not. We didn’t speak about the squad for next year – I want to get to know the players who are here. There are injured players I have never seen in a training session.

“We will start [planning the squad] in the next week. The feeling that I have is we will plan the squad for next year together and we will work together for a long time.

“But three weeks ago I wasn’t here.”