Crystal Palace transfer news: Oliver Glasner makes January demand as Christantus Uche stance becomes clear

Oliver Glasner has expressed his desire for Crystal Palace to sign a new attacker in the January transfer window.

The Eagles fell to a 2-1 away defeat to Strasbourg in the Conference League on Thursday night and rued several missed opportunities, hitting the woodwork twice from an open goal.

Glasner acknowledged after the match that Palace’s wastefulness in front of goal has been a recurring issue this season, adding that the club will need to bring in another attacker when the January transfer window opens.

“The situation where we have all these chances, we are missing. We could talk about six, seven, eight games. A few of them we won, Liverpool. We can turn it around, but we can’t always rely on keeping a clean sheet,” Glasner said.

“The game was exactly how we expected it. We knew that they take high risk in the build-up. If you have two of these chances, winning the ball, then you just have to pass into the empty goal then you should take it. If you don’t take it you don’t deserve to win.”

Glasner want Palace to sign attacker in January to remain “competitive”

Glasner added: “It happens too often, maybe it’s part of our development. I would really have liked to avoid this defeat, but nobody misses on purpose. I haven’t played an international (European) game with as many big chances as we had today, which makes it even worse.

“We have to support the players. This is what we will do. It’s the only thing we will do, support them, encourage them, stay positive. The second thing [to improve in attack] is to buy a player in January.”

Palace will soon be unable to call upon joint-top scorer Ismaila Sarr, who has found the net eight times this season in all competitions - the same as striker Jean-Philippe Mateta - and is due to represent Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations.

AFCON runs from December 21 to January 18, meaning that Sarr could miss as many as 10 games across the Premier League, Conference League and FA Cup during a busy period for Crystal Palace.

Asked at a press conference on Friday whether Palace will need to sign a new attacker, Glasner said: "I think we need to. Ismaila [Sarr] will leave us, so he's the only player that makes runs in behind.

"So maybe I think we need this profile again, because also the players on the bench are a different profile and we need players to stretch the defence.”

"I hope we will get it done. Is it the key to being competitive? Yes. Do I just need a bit of help with one or two brought in? Yes."

Out-of-favour Uche not in Glasner’s plans at Palace

Following the summer departure of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal, Crystal Palace signed Yeremy Pino from Villarreal and the Spaniard is beginning to find his feet at Selhurst Park after a slow start to life in England.

The Eagles also completed the deadline-day signing of Christantus Uche from Getafe, agreeing an initial loan deal with an obligation to buy if the Nigerian forward makes 10 Premier League starts.

However, the 22-year-old has been limited to just eight minutes of game time across three substitute appearances in the Premier League so far this term and he appears to be out of favour under Glasner.

A permanent move to Selhurst Park in the summer looks increasingly unlikely, while his lack of game time in the current campaign, coupled with Sarr imminent departure for AFCON, is why Glasner is keen to bolster his squad with at least one more attacker in January.

Palace will hope to attract a plethora of top players in the New Year, especially at a time when they remain firmly in the mix to secure European football for next season, as they currently sit fifth in the Premier League table and just three points behind Chelsea in second place.