Oliver Glasner explains lack of Premier League minutes for Crystal Palace attacker since making Millwall switch

11 April 2025 Edmund Brack

Oliver Glasner says that Romain Esse’s lack of minutes for Crystal Palace has been due to the competitiveness of his attacking players.

The Austrian boss has reassured the England U20 international that his time will come for the Eagles.

Esse signed a five-and-a-half-year deal at Selhurst Park in January after completing a £14.5million switch from South London rivals Millwall.

The 19-year-old scored with his very first touch in a Palace shirt after coming on as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at home to Brentford.

But Esse has played just one minute of Premier League football in the last seven games since his debut.

“Of course he wants to play more – everybody is like this,” said Glasner when asked if Esse is knocking down his door for more minutes.

“I don’t have the solution where everyone can be happy after every single game.

“He hasn’t played the minutes he deserved or he would like to play. But he is doing well and working hard in training.

“We have five games coming up in two weeks. It’s about showing that he is ready. We’re still convinced by his talent and skills.”

Attackers Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr have the number 10 roles in Glasner’s system nailed down.

But Matheus Franca has jumped ahead of Esse in the pecking order since returning from a 10-month injury spell.

The Brazilian – signed from Flamengo in a deal that could rise to £26million – was handed 14 minutes as Palace chased an equaliser at Southampton. Franca scored in the 92nd minute to net his first Premier League goal for the Eagles.

“The good thing for us as a team is that all the attacking players are available,” said Glasner. “We had some injuries over the season, but they’re all doing really well. JP (Mateta) and Ismaila are scoring many goals.

“Eberechi is getting better and better. Eddie (Nketiah) is scoring goals. With Matheus, we had a feeling. We needed a goal at Southampton and you have a feeling for the players.

“Matheus scored an amazing goal during the international break against HamKam in Marbella. He scored many goals in training and we had a feeling we would give him more minutes because we could score the goal that we needed.

“You have to wait for your moment. Romain had a moment in his first game – he came on and scored. But he is really working hard. It’s a really competitive group now.

“Eddie is the one who gets the minutes earlier than Romain. He played many games for Arsenal. You have to stay humble and say: ‘Okay, I will keep working hard and show that the team can count on me’.”

Esse has had more minutes in the FA Cup and played more than 25 minutes against Doncaster and his former club Millwall.

But the attacker has gone from starting week in, week out, in the Championship to waiting for his chance to make an impact in the league above.

Nketiah picked up a red card in the 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday, which could hand Esse an opportunity off the bench tomorrow when Palace head to Manchester City.

“He had to adjust, it [the level] was maybe quicker than he was used to,” said Glasner. “He has to make quicker decisions and play quickly, but he can’t lose his dribbling skills. It’s about adjustment.

“His time will come.”

PICTURES: BRIAN TONKS