Crystal Palace must match Glasner’s ambition to keep him, warns Parish

The Crystal Palace chair, Steve Parish, has said they have reopened talks with Oliver Glasner over extending his contract beyond the end of this season but admitted they must match their Austrian manager’s ambition if they are to persuade him to stay in south London.

It is understood Palace first explored the possibility of extending his deal with Glasner’s representatives earlier in the year but discussions were put on ice as he guided them to a historic victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley in May.

The former Eintracht Frankfurt manager has been linked to Manchester United and Bayern Munich in recent weeks and said at the start of this month that talks had yet to resume with Palace. But in an interview with TalkSport on Sunday, Parish said he had held “some early conversations” with the 51-year-old.

“We would love to keep Oliver, we’re building something. I think for Oliver it’s about the conditions being right,” said Parish. “It’s about everything being in a way that he enjoys his work and he finds the conditions favourable to achieve. Oliver wants to win things. He makes no secret of that. That’s what he’s in football for. So if we can align those interests then hopefully we can make something happen.” Parish also admitted that Adam Wharton – the England midfielder who has been linked with a move to United this weekend but is also believed to be on the wishlists of several other major clubs, including Real Madrid – has ambitions to play at the highest level.

“I think Adam at some point will want to play either in the Champions League with us, if we can make that happen, or probably with another club,” he said. “He’s an extraordinary talent. I think right now, and I can’t speak for Adam, he’s focused on his time at Crystal Palace.”

Meanwhile, work on redeveloping Palace’s main stand – estimated to cost up to £250m and due to have started in the summer – is now expected to begin in January.

“It’s an absolute must and everybody now on the shareholder group is committed to doing it so hopefully in January there’s lots of things going on,” said Parish. “Things are being moved, power stations, dressing rooms being built. There’s a lot of things that maybe the fans can’t see so it has been going forwards but the real physical things, things being demolished etc, will start in January.”

Click here to read article