Rating every player Crystal Palace signed this season - including 4/10 flops and genius free transfer
Crystal Palace spent around £125m on new signings for the 2025/26 season
Crystal Palace’s 2025/26 season is drawing to a close, with just two Premier League matches left to go. The domestic games will, of course, be of little interest to Eagles fans and arguably the side itself - they’ve got the Conference League final to play in under two weeks. Victory would see Palace play Europa League football next season, continuing the club’s impressive progress in recent years.
The club endured a dire winter which saw them knocked out of both domestic cup competitions, go nine Premier League matches without a win and have manager Oliver Glasner announce his plans to leave in the summer. Despite all this, they’ve stayed out of the relegation battle while also having a shot at the first European trophy in the club’s history - most fans would have snapped your arm off for that back in January.
Palace have two London derbies against Brentford and Arsenal left to go this season, and they’d be forgiven for taking their foot off the pedal, given the fear of key players missing the final against Rayo Vallecano with injury. Ahead of the campaign drawing to a close, we’ve rated every player the club brought in for the 2025/26 season.
Rating every signing Crystal Palace made this season - Benitez to Canvot
Walter Benitez: free transfer from PSV Eindhoven - 7/10. A bit of a bargain, this one. Arriving for not a penny, the one-cap Argentina international has proven to be an excellent understudy to Dean Henderson. He saved two spot-kicks in an EFL Cup penalty shootout win against Milwall, featured in the Conference League run, and kept clean sheets against both Liverpool and Leeds United.
Borna Sosa: £3m from Ajax - 4/10. Given the price tag, expectations for Sosa weren’t particularly high when he joined from the Dutch giants last July. Despite being largely restricted to cup matches and brief cameos in the league, he’s still managed to rack up five yellow cards and one red, in a frustrating debut campaign at Selhurst Park.
Yeremy Pino: £26m from Villarreal - 7/10. Regarded as rather a coup, given the amount of interest in the Spain international, Pino has had a decent first season at Palace. He’s got his head down and adapted to Glasner’s system with aplomb, demonstrating an admirably ferocious work rate. If he can bump up those goal and assist numbers next season, the Eagles will have a serious player on their hands.
Jaydee Canvot: £17.5m from Toulouse - 8/10. Plucked from relatively obscurity late in the summer window, Canvot stepped up and filled the cavernous hole in Palace’s defence left by Marc Guehi’s exit in January. While he’s had a few poor performances to be expected from a raw young talent, he’s largely been impressive on the whole, with particularly heroic displays against the likes of Leeds United, Aston Villa, and rivals Brighton.
Rating every signing Crystal Palace made this season - Johnson to Guessand
Brennan Johnson £35m from Tottenham - 4/10. The Wales international scored the winning goal for Spurs in last year’s Europa League final - could he do the same for Palace in the Conference League this time around? For a then club record signing, expectations were high on Johnson’s arrival, and he’s struggled to justify the value of the outlay thus far.
The lack of end-product has been the real issue for the 24-year-old, who has impressed with his pace and tenacity, only to fluff his lines at the crucial moment time and time again. He’s failed to score a single goal since arriving in January, and has only managed a solitary assist. Johnson is clearly a talented player, but he’s verging into flop territory after a dismal first half-season at the club.
Jorgen Strand Larsen: £43m from Wolves - 6/10. Another big-money January signing, the towering Norwegian striker has slotted straight into Glasner’s system. While his goal contribution numbers have been far from prolific, he’s an important cog in the attack with his robust link-up play. He had two glorious moments with his home debut brace against Burnley and the iconic strike against Shakhtar Donestsk in the Conference League semi-final.
Christantus Uche: on loan from Getafe - 4/10. The Nigeria international was brought in as a backup option late in the summer window, and he’s struggled considerably to adapt to football in England. He did score twice in the Conference League, albeit against relatively lowly opposition, but that’s been about as good as it’s got for the 22-year-old. Palace certainly won’t be signing him permanently at the end of the season.
Evann Guessand: on loan from Aston Villa - 6/10. Another attacker signed in January to get Palace hitting the back the net more often, the Ivory Coast international hasn’t quite met the brief. What he can be credited for is his versatility, filling in across Palace’s attacking line, and his scoring in back-to-back games against Wolves and Zrinjski Mostar.