OLIVER Glasner insists he is “very happy” at Crystal Palace – and revealed his mum is losing sleep over speculation linking him with RB Leipzig.
Glasner has led Palace into the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley – where they will play Aston Villa at the end of this month – and after no wins in the first eight league games this season, to twelfth in the table with a chance of a top-half finish.
German Bundesliga club Leipzig sacked Marco Rose last month with the side in sixth place.
Glasner guided Eintracht Frankfurt to the Europa League title in 2022, and there have been reports that former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who is the global head of soccer at Leipzig’s owners, Red Bull, wanted to speak to the Eagles head coach.
Glasner was asked about the rumours in his press conference ahead of Palace’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
He replied: “I’m very happy, but I’m not happy with all the stories. I don’t read all these stories, but my mum messaged me and she said: ‘I don’t know. I have to read so much. I don’t know where to start and where to end, I can’t sleep anymore’. I said: ‘Come on, you are in your 70s, and it’s not worth reading all this stuff.’
“So nothing to tell from my side. The only guy I was talking to in the last week was [Palace chairman] Steve Parish. No one else.”
Meanwhile, Chris Richards will miss the Seagulls clash.
Glasner said: “It was very close. He was outside on the pitch today for a short session but he’s not 100 per cent. If it was the last game of the season he would have started, but we can’t take the risk when you see our schedule. We took the decision not to take the risk.”
Palace have six more games in April, with the Villa match just three days after they go to Arsenal. Both those sides are in the last eight of the Champions League.
“There was obviously no other date possible for the Arsenal game,” Glasner said. “It was a very busy January and February, a very relaxed March and we look forward to a busy April and May. We are playing in two competitions which is what we wanted.
“It’s great, we play two teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League so it feels like we are also in the quarter-finals. We face these teams within three days, and we will give our best in both games.”
