Glasner found Crystal Palace’s new Olise and he is a complete “cheat code”.

Oliver Glasner may be leaving Crystal Palace this summer, but he is leaving the club with a fantastic performance.

This was a treacherous campaign, but it was always going to be difficult to repeat the success of 2024/25, when the odds were turned on their head and Crystal Palace beat Manchester City to lift the FA Cup, then beat Liverpool in August’s Community Shield.

However, the Eagles face AEK Larnaca in the last 16 of the Conference League, and are among the favorites to lift the trophy.

This is unlike anything Selhurst Park has ever seen, and Glasner has overseen the rise of more than a few stars since joining the Londoners in February 2024.

Glasner’s big stars at Crystal Palace

It’s been a difficult campaign, but Crystal Palace are starting to find form in the Premier League again, escaping the brink of a relegation battle and heading for a place in the European qualifiers.

And that sold captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City in January, with the Three Lions star entering the final stages of a contract he had no interest in renewing.

The Eagles were hit with his departure, but they still have Maxence Lacroix, and Jaydee Canvot looks like a future star at middle linebacker.

They have endured, as they did when Eberechi Eze was sold to Arsenal for £67m last summer, winning the FA Cup from Palace with the winning goal in the final.

Eze was beautiful. It’s really good. And now immortal at Selhurst Park. But Eze was not as good as Michael Olise, who missed out on the title-winning celebrations in south London after moving to Bayern Munich last year.

Who can blame him? The Frenchman was a specialist at Palace but has now become “one of the best players in the world”, as journalist Henry Swain said he will in 2024.

Glasner and chairman Steve Parish would have liked to keep Olise playing for a long time, but other players have to play at a very high level, and it is always a challenge to get the big prizes.

Now, Glasner has found another such talent.

Glasner found a new Michael Olise

Olise, 24, rose to stardom at Selhurst Park, arriving from Championship side Reading and becoming one of the most dangerous midfielders in the Premier League.

Now, Adam Wharton is becoming a new version of this property.

The England midfielder has only been at the club for two years, joining Blackburn Rovers for an estimated £18m in January 2024. Now, the 22-year-old is renowned for his passing and maturity in the center of the park, his ability on the ball even seeing him hailed as a “cheat code” in football by commentator and pundit Ben Mattinson.

Having been taken from the EFL to the top flight in a similar fashion to Olise, Glasner may have found his new version of the French phenom. In terms of form, they are not the same, but there are similarities and Wharton becomes more talismanic during game week.

He has never scored a goal in the Premier League, but that is not his wheel. Wharton is a masterful, deep-lying and deeply influential Palace sequel.

The top clubs are all serious (as was Olise). Eagles officials have responded by putting him at £100m, however, his world-class ability demands a world-class price tag.

Last season, injuries prevented significant progress in the Premier League. But still, Wharton has come on in leaps and bounds this year, more accurate in his creative passing without shying away from the defensive qualities that make him such an impressive midfielder.

Wharton is the real deal, and while Parish and all of Palace’s supporters hope he stays around for years to come, chances are high-profile suitors will flock to each transfer window until he finally gives up.

It will be a tough day, but the midfielder, who is valued at £100m, will be sold for a record-breaking fee, so while he will emulate Olise, it will stand as further confirmation of how far this club has come.

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