The £20m Championship ace who Crystal Palace should sign next summer - Opinion

Crystal Palace have made an impressive start to the new Premier League season. They are unbeaten in their first three league fixtures. The Eagles drew with Chelsea and Nottingham Forest in their first two outings before beating Aston Villa 3-0 away at Villa Park in their last match before the international break.

The South London outfit have to balance their league duties with Europa Conference League action in this campaign. They will hope that they have enough depth in their squad to deal with the increased workload. Oliver Glasner’s side are back in action next weekend against newly promoted Sunderland at Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace should target Hull City defender Charlie Hughes

Crystal Palace are no strangers to delving into the Championship for talent. They signed Eberechi Eze from QPR back in 2020 from QPR and have recently sold him on to Arsenal for a mega profit. Meanwhile, Adam Wharton has become one of their key players since his switch from Blackburn Rovers in 2024.

The Eagles should now swoop for Hull City centre-back Charlie Hughes next summer. The 21-year-old needs another year of first-team football at the MKM Stadium in the second tier before he is ready to make the step up to the top flight. He is under contract until June 2028.

Hughes, who is a England youth international, has become one of the Tigers’ most prized assets and has a bright future ahead of him in the game. They signed him from Wigan Athletic last year and he has since made the step up from League One with ease.

The Wigan-born man was on the books at Manchester City and Liverpool as a youngster before linking up with the Latics in 2017. He then rose into the first-team of the North West club as a teenager and went on to become a regular before the Tigers came calling. The defender went on to win his current team’s Young Player of the Season award last term and Goal of the Season too as they avoided relegation on the final day.

Could Charlie Hughes replace Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace?

Hughes would be ideal for Crystal Palace as he is young, has already played a lot of games for someone of his age and has bags of potential. The Eagles need to start thinking about long-term Marc Guehi replacements. Guehi’s deal expires in 2026 and most signs point towards him leaving, despite the fact he stayed put beyond the last deadline.

Hull turned down three offers from Coventry City for Hughes in the summer. They value him at around the £20million mark which shows how highly-rated he is. Their boss Sergej Jakirovic, who was appointed in June as their replacement for Ruben Selles, said in an interview with local media in August: “(He’s) very important. From what I’ve seen until now, he can develop even more. He can improve more and then maybe he will be our best transfer in the history of this club. I don’t know what the record is until now. For me, he is (worth) over £20million now.”

The Tigers are no strangers to selling players on for big money. Andy Robertson, Harry Maguire and Jarrod Bowen have all used them as a stepping stone in their respective careers. The likes of Keane Lewis-Potter, Jaden Philogene and Jacob Greaves are more recent examples of individuals who have benefitted from playing their football in East Yorkshire before leaving for hefty fees.

It seems inevitable that Hughes will move on from Hull, especially if he catches the eye again this season. They held firm amid approaches from league rivals Coventry and seem confident they can get a better deal for him if they be patient. Crystal Palace must keep tabs on developments over the coming weeks and months.