Dougie Freedman deserves a huge Crystal Palace bonus for squad’s amazing overhaul and cutting £500k off wage bill
DOUGIE FREEDMAN deserves a big bonus from Crystal Palace.
Because the director of football led an overhaul which is nothing short of genius.
Palace let £60,000-a-week left-back Patrick van Aanholt leave on a free transfer because they had faith in Tyrick Mitchell.
That did not go badly — Mitchell, 22, made his England debut in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Switzerland.
Van Aanholt joined Galatasaray on a three-year deal but we can reveal his name is being circulated by agents because the Turks want to get rid.
And what cannot be underestimated is the battle Palace faced to beat French champs Lille to Patrick Vieira.
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We can also reveal the wages of other players moved on: Mamadou Sakho (£120k a week), Gary Cahill (£80k), Scott Dann (£70k), Andros Townsend (£60k), James McCarthy (£50k) Connor Wickham (£40k) and Wayne Hennessey (£30k).
Palace signed Marc Guehi from Chelsea for £18m and Conor Gallagher from the same club on loan. The duo are also in the England squad.
Michael Olise came from Reading (£8m), Joachim Andersen from Lyon (£14.9m), Will Hughes from Watford (£5.5m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta from Mainz (£8m).
Celtic wanted £30m for Odsonne Edouard but Palace paid just £15.75m. All of those signings worked out — which is some effort.
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PHIL FODEN gives England’s kit men extra work because he is so small.
On the FA’s official documentary Inside The Pride: An England Original, Foden is filmed walking up to the kit van parked next to a Three Lions training session and he is handed a new coat.
The Manchester City star said: “I have my own size as I am a bit smaller than everybody else.”
Carr’s role call
TONY CARR is as much a part of West Ham folklore as many of the stars he brought through during 43 years as head of the academy.
And in his soon-to-be-published autobiography A Lifetime In Football At West Ham United, he recalls that when David Sullivan, David Gold and Karren Brady took over in 2010, a process began to move things on.
Carr was offered a “new and exciting role” as “director of football”.
But he writes: “They quickly discovered that Sam Allardyce had it written into his contract that the board could not appoint a director of football, so a new title had to be dreamed up.”
LIVERPOOL fans are wondering why they are being forced to pay extortionate air fares for the game against Benfica in Lisbon on Tuesday.
But it has nothing to do with their Champions League quarter-final. Talk about bad timing.
The capital hosts the Non Fungible conference — best to google it — and tickets start at £480. And even the last Ryanair flights cost £270 each way.