News from Friday’s press conferences, including Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa
Oliver Glasner has revealed he had a “long dinner” with the Crystal Palace chair, Steve Parish, this week to resolve their differences and has insisted he is “100% committed” to seeing out his contract until the end of the season.
Glasner accused Parish and the Palace board of abandoning him and his squad after they told him the captain, Marc Guéhi, would be sold to Manchester City the day before they were due to face Sunderland. A 2-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light made it 10 games without a victory under the Austrian, who had confirmed before the game that he would be leaving in the summer.
Parish decided against sacking Glasner over his outburst and the 51-year-old is hoping the return of Ismaïla Sarr from the Africa Cup of Nations and Daniel Muñoz from injury can help to lift spirits after a difficult fortnight. “I was quite emotional after the game and I think it shows how much the players, how much Crystal Palace means to me,” Glasner said.
“I agreed one year ago in February to sell Marc. It’s all about timing and replacement. That was the whole situation. I know that Crystal Palace will always sell players if they have big offers from other clubs. But it was just the situation, telling the team 28 hours before a Premier League game that the captain is leaving. This was my feeling at that moment and this is what I tried to express. I know it feels like criticism, but for me it was just telling the feelings, the emotions I had, the team had.”
