Oliver Glasner reavals Dwight McNeil deal disappointment as he calls for Crystal Palace "reset"
Watch Brighton vs Crystal Palace, live on Sunday on Sky Sports - kick-off 2pm; Oliver Glasner on failed Dwight McNeil move: "We all are disappointed that this deal didn't happen."
Thursday 5 February 2026 16:50, UK
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has revealed he shared Dwight McNeil's disappointment over the failed Deadline Day move for the winger from Everton.
McNeil was set to leave Everton after a deal was agreed with Palace.
The winger had undergone a medical in the final hours of the window, however the deal collapsed.
McNeil's girlfriend posted an emotional statement on social media, criticising Crystal Palace for his failed transfer.
"Yes, we all are disappointed that this deal didn't happen," Glanser told Sky Sports, who takes his Palace team to play rivals Brighton on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
- Crystal Palace news & transfers🦅
- Palace fixtures & scores | FREE Palace highlights▶️
- Got Sky? Watch Palace games LIVE on your phone📱
- Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺
"I already planned that next day on training with him. And then, right at the end of the transfer, it can always happen on Deadline Day - so many things can happen that the deal doesn't happen. And this, I was told, is that the terms of the deal changed in the last hours. And then the time is just too short to get the deal over the line.
"And then the deal failed.
"I can understand him and his family are disappointed. But believe me, I had the same feeling, because I really have a huge appreciation for him.
"He would have been our most experienced Premier League player with 250 appearances, at just 26 years of age. We don't have a left-foot attacker. He would have been great in set-plays.
"He's always scoring four to six goals and having six to eight, nine assists - exactly what we were looking for, a left-footer who can add this to our team. So we're all disappointed that we couldn't get this deal done.
"And unfortunately, it happened in the last hour. And so I can understand his disappointment. I share his disappointment."
Palace did complete the signing of striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves in a club-record deal worth up to £48m on Deadline Day and he's set to make his debut on Sunday.
Palace made the move for the Norway international as forward Jean-Philippe Mateta looked set for a transfer to AC Milan. However, the Italian club pulled out of the deal due to a knee issue for Mateta and the 28-year-old will remain at Selhurst Park although will be missing this weekend owing to that injury.
"I see him highly motivated," Glasner said on Strand Larsen.
"I think he wants to prove and show that he's better than the season has been so far for him.
"He had a fantastic last-year season, scoring 14 goals and this year he was on the bench at the Wolves and he wasn't really pleased with his personal situation. He wasn't pleased with how many goals he scored. Now he wants to show that he is the Jorgen Strang-Larsen from last year.
"That's why we were really pushing hard and the club broke its signing record, because we trust in him. We trust that he is a goalscorer. His profile, he knows where the goal is.
"His movements in the box, his finishing quality is great. Hard work is what's important for our defensive structure.
"He can help us in set-pieces. Last year he scored a goal against us after a corner. He will bring a lot of attributes into our team that we need."
Glasner: We need to hit the reset button
Palace have not won in last 12 games in all competitions since a 3-0 win vs Shelbourne in the Conference League. They were fourth in the Premier League at the start of that run but have slipped to 15th and are just nine points above the relegation zone.
Palace will hope to kickstart their season following a month of turmoil while the transfer window was open.
Following the departure of captain Marc Guehi and the announcement of Glasner's imminent departure, plus the near-departure of top scorer Mateta, there was some good news on deadline day with Strand Larsen arriving, joining new signings Brennan Johnson and Evann Guessand in attack.
"It was very, very busy and very noisy, so that's what we all wanted to avoid," Glasner said of the January window.
"But sometimes things happen and you can't affect it. I think at the end we had some great signings: Brennan Johnson, Strand Larsen and Evann Guessand. We strengthened our attack with different profiles, a tall physical striker, a more physical number 10 with Evann. Brennan has a lot of pace, who knows where the goal is and how to score goals. So this will help us definitely in our attack.
"On the other side, we lost Mark Guehi. Losing your captain in the middle of the season is never ideal. But we saw the circumstances. It was the end of contract in the summer and he didn't want to sign a new contract.
"It looks like we have to press a little bit the restart button."
