Crystal Palace’s 2023-24 season preview – Wilf Zaha’s exit, more players needed & Ebere Eze to flourish again under Roy Hodgson

Once again, Crystal Palace feel nervily underprepared for the start of the upcoming Premier League season.

For the first time since 2014, the Eagles will have to mastermind their Premier League safety without the key talisman of the CPFC 2010 ownership, Wilfried Zaha.

The Croydon-raised winger has left Selhurst Park permanently for the second time, however, on this occasion, compared to his departure as a 20-year-old for Manchester United in 2013, a future return is unlikely.

Zaha, 30, turned down a club-record £200,000 a week and a four-year deal to join Turkish side Galatasaray, with the lure of Champions League football too hard to pass up on.

Palace have pushed ahead with signing Brazilian attacker Matheus Franca, shelling out £26million and the teenager penning a five-year deal from Flamengo.

However, the 19-year-old, who was not a consistent starter in the Brazilian Serie A, will need a period of adaption to the baptism of fire that is Premier League football.

Along with Franca’s arrival, only the midfield area has been bolstered at the time of going to press, with Jefferson Lerma arriving from Bournemouth on a free transfer.

Boss Roy Hodgson has been openly critical about the lack of signings, with Palace losing four senior players – Wilf Zaha, Jack Butland, James McArthur and Luka Milivojevic – and Vicente Guaita seeking a move back to Spain after losing his starting spot to Sam Johnstone.

“We’ve lost five senior players from last season and brought one in – Jefferson Lerma,” said the 76-year-old.

“He’s good and we’re happy to have him – but there is still that hole of five senior players in the squad, two of whom were two of the real stars of the team.

“There’s a bit of work for the chairman and sporting director to do between now and the end of August, because the team we put out today [in the 1-1 pre-season draw with Sevilla] was in our opinion, at this moment in time, our best team, but we don’t have the strength behind that team that we had last year.”

Another problem looming ahead of the upcoming campaign is whether last season’s Players’ Player of the Year, Michael Olise, will still be at Selhurst Park at the end of the transfer window.

Chelsea and Manchester City are both keen on the French creative spark, who reached 11 assists last season in the Premier League.

But Olise, 21, will miss the start of the season after suffering a hamstring tear – which required surgery – on international duty at the U21 Euros over the summer.

“Clubs are circling around him and we are going to have a fight on our hands to make sure he stays with us,” Hodgson said of interest in Olise.

“We had two outstanding wingers who were almost the best in the league – Michael Olise on the right side and Wilf on the left. We don’t have Wilf any more.”

It has become the theme of the summer, but a host of the club’s best players are being watched by teams higher up the division. Liverpool have checked in on Cheick Doucoure, and centre-backs Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen both have suitors playing Champions League football.

Palace have also suffered injuries over the course of the pre-season campaign, with Will Hughes, Tyrick Mitchell and Malcolm Ebiowei all picking up different problems ahead of the first game tomorrow at Sheffield United.

There are three tough outings – Sheffield United, Arsenal and Brentford – before the transfer window comes to a close at the start of next month.

Palace will have to hope that Hodgson can find a way of getting the best out of Eberechi Eze again in order to come away with something from these games, with the squad not yet strong enough – especially at the top end of the pitch – to compete at this level.