PIERRE Sage said he was waiting for the transfer window to close so he could focus only on Crystal Palace’s performances as the Eagles faced losing two more key players before the September 1 deadline.
Palace have knocked back a £50million offer from Liverpool for 27-year-old attacker Ismaila Sarr, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Last week, BBC Sport reported that striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, 29, was claiming the last year of his contract, due to expire in 2027, was invalid. The report said the case was heard by an independent tribunal who ruled the contract is binding. Palace took up the twelve-month option to extend his contract until next year in 2024.
Mateta started in Palace’s 2-0 defeat at Everton last weekend, but Sarr wasn’t involved and Sage said he had been struggling with injury and wouldn’t be involved in the Premier League clash with Manchester City at Selhurst Park on Friday night.
Sage had plenty on his plate in his midweek press conference, with uncertainty over Chadi Riad’s injury after he was stretchered off at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
On Mateta, Sage said: “He gives his best in every session. I didn’t see a player who has a problem with the club or with us. That’s why he played the last game as a starter. You imagine if we have a problem with him, he will not play as a starter.”
Sage said he had spoken to Sarr on Wednesday morning.
“He is under contract, as I told you,” Sage said. “He’s injured and, maybe you can make a link between his injury and the situation, but for me, he’s honest, and I have no problem with that.”
Sage added: “You know, football is like this now. We know that when it’s a transfer window there’s a lot of noise, a lot of sound for the player. Maybe some of them are not really comfortable with this situation.
“That’s why it’s not really a good period when you are inside in a club, but you know when it will be finished, we will only be concerned about with our performance, and we have just to wait for that.”
Meanwhile, Palace have reinforced their defence with the signing of Alex Disasi, 28, on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Disasi said: “I’m very happy. The club has been going in a very good direction, so I think it was the right place for me to keep going.
“I know that it’s very tough to play against Palace at Selhurst Park, so I’m looking forward to being on the other side now.”
