By Daily Sports Nigeria on May 8, 2026

Oliver Glasner says the lack of playing time for Christantus Uche at Crystal Palace FC this season is “nothing personal”, amid reports that the midfielder could leave the club at the end of his loan spell, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Uche was quoted by Read Crystal Palace as saying Glasner “doesn’t like me” and suggested that he was not expecting to play again for the South London club.

The Nigerian has started only two games this season — the 2-1 FA Cup third-round defeat to Macclesfield FC and the 3-0 win over Shelbourne FC in the league phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League in December.

He has struggled for minutes, with Palace strengthening their squad in January through the arrivals of Brennan Johnson and Jørgen Strand Larsen, further limiting his opportunities.

As a result, he was not registered for the knockout stages of the Conference League and has not featured in a matchday squad for Palace’s last five Premier League games.

“For me it’s never to blame the player for anything,” Glasner said during his press conference ahead of Palace’s Conference League semi-final second leg against Shakhtar Donetsk.

“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 take a decision due to 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 Jørgen Strand Larsen, JP Mateta and Eddie Nketiah — this was the reason.

“From this day he felt like I don’t like him. It’s nothing personal. I like him as a person, but again I had to take a decision and, like always, every player who is here gets the best possible support we can give him.”

Glasner named two goalkeepers on the bench during Palace’s 3-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth on Sunday instead of including Uche, but the manager declined to elaborate on his selection decisions.

“It looks like he doesn’t make a game for us,” Glasner added.

“There are reasons for it, but I want to keep it in-house. I’m always talking to the players directly, not over the media. This is what everyone deserves.”

Uche has endured a frustrating campaign at Selhurst Park since arriving on loan from Getafe CF. The Super Eagles midfielder has made 22 appearances in all competitions this season, although most of them came from the bench.

He is now expected to return to Spain at the end of the season after failing to trigger the purchase clause in his loan agreement. Palace reportedly agreed to pay between €18m and €20m for a permanent transfer if the midfielder started 10 Premier League matches, but he failed to make a single league start during his spell in South London.

Source Punch Ng

Posted May 8, 2026

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