Oliver Glasner made another dig at the Crystal Palace hierarchy for leaving their winter transfer business until the final day of the window.
Palace face a race to tomorrow's 7pm deadline to sign an option at centre-back after Marc Guehi joined Manchester City in mid-January and replace Jean-Philippe Mateta, who is undergoing a medical before completing a move to AC Milan.
Brennan Johnson has already been signed for a club-record fee, while Evann Guesand joined this weekend to provide extra depth in attack.
Wolves striker Jørgen Strand Larsen has been lined up to replace Mateta, with Palace set to break their club-record transfer fee for the second time in the window.
However, Glasner has argued since his first transfer window at Palace in summer 2024 that the club must execute business early to give him maximum time to integrate new players and convey his ideas.
Palace played seven matches while the window was open, but aside from Johnson, who was signed in the first week, no other additions arrived in time to feature during that period.
Following Palace’s 1–1 draw with Nottingham Forest on the eve of the winter transfer deadline, Glasner admitted that delaying business until the closing stages of the window is detrimental to his team’s performances.
“I know that Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada and Evann Guessand will train tomorrow and hopefully be available for Brighton next Sunday," Glasner said.
“We have a pretty clear agreement and commitment that it’s either JP Mateta or somebody else.
“I don’t know what the situation is. But I know if JP leaves, a striker comes in. Let’s see what’s happening.
“I would prefer not to be talking the day before the deadline about transfers. My wish would be that everything had been sorted two weeks ago, so we could train and focus on development.
“I think we have to take a step backwards. Maybe two or three more players are coming in, then we have five or six new players all of a sudden.
"It feels like we are starting again from two years ago. Having to teach them how we want to play and how we want to attack.
“Right now, there are too many misunderstandings [on the pitch]. They have to get to know each other, the way we want to play, the areas we want to attack and the way we want to defend.
“Even Brennan is a new one, and Evan Guessand will be a new one. This, for us, is taking a step backwards.”
Palace signed Guessand from Aston Villa on an initial loan, with an option to buy, on Friday, but failed to register him on time to play a part at Forest.
Glasner is encouraged by the additional depth Evann Guessand will provide, suggesting he has been signed as cover and competition for Yeremy Pino.
"He will give us physicality. He's tall and strong. He has shown in France that he can score goals in the 3-4-3 system, playing this half-left 10.
"Now we have competition, and that's what we need. At Forest, we had one attacking player on the bench in Christantus Uche.
"Then we had Zach Marsh from our academy. Honestly, it would have been Benji Casey, as he trains with us, but he's injured. We brought Zach with us without any training.
"Evann will help us to have an impact from the bench, whoever is playing. Eddie Nketiah will come back with an impact. We need this.
"The last couple of weeks have been tough and challenging, but when I see the performances, I have no concerns."
