Crystal Palace defender makes League One loan switch

Crystal Palace defender Kofi Balmer has joined League One side Port Vale on a season-long loan.

Balmer was named on the bench by Patrick Vieira in the Premier League for games against Leicester, Wolves and Everton last season.

The centre-back was called up to the Northern Ireland squad by Ian Baraclough for their Nations League games against Kosovo and Greece.

This is his first loan away from Palace after joining from Larne in August 2022.

Port Vale director of football David Flitcroft said: “Kofi will be an excellent addition to our defensive unit as he can operate in all three central defensive positions.

“At the age of 22, he already experienced real men’s football playing for Ballymena and Larne over the last 12 months he has been a part of a great learning and elite training environment at Crystal Palace.

“The manager and John Schofield have first-hand experience of Kofi having worked with him at international level and the support staff will help him with his continued development.

“We’d like to thank Crystal Palace, in particular, Mark Bright and Ben Stevens for allowing Kofi to continue his development with us and we look forward to working with them in the future.”