Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the limited involvement of Super Eagles star Christantus Uche at Selhurst Park this season, Footynaija.com reports.
Uche arrived in the Premier League on loan from Getafe last summer, but the move has not gone according to plan. He has found it difficult to adapt to life at Selhurst Park and has struggled to reproduce the form that made him one of Getafe’s most important players last season.
The Nigeria international has featured 23 times in all competitions for Crystal Palace this season, although only four of those outings have been starts.
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He has also been out of action since March, when he came off the bench in a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, a game that has since proven to be his last appearance as well as inclusion in a match-day squad.
Uche recently opened up on his frustrations over the lack of opportunities, even hinting that Glasner’s personal opinion of him may have contributed to his reduced role in the squad.
However, the Palace boss has now addressed those claims, insisting that the midfielder’s limited game time has nothing to do with personal feelings, but is instead a consequence of the fierce competition for places within the team.
Oliver Glasner responds to Christantus Uche
“For me, it’s never about blaming the player for anything”, Glasner said, per The New York Times.
“It always stays internal. He wasn’t registered for the second part of the Conference League and I had a conversation with him. He wasn’t pleased with it, but I had to make a decision because of the rules.
“We had new signings coming in. If I had known that Eddie Nketiah wouldn’t be fit, then Uche would have been registered. But we had Jorgen Strand Larsen, JP Mateta and Eddie Nketiah, and that was the reason.
“From that day, he felt like I didn’t like him. It’s nothing personal. I like him as a person, but again, I had to make a decision. Like always, every player here gets the best possible support we can give him.
“It looks like he doesn’t make the squad for us. There are reasons for it, but I want to keep that in-house. I always speak directly with the players and not through the media. That’s what every player deserves.”
Palace needed Uche to make 10 Premier League starts before triggering a permanent transfer clause, but the Nigerian will fall short of that mark and is now expected to return to Getafe at the end of the season after an underwhelming spell in England.
