Uche certain to leave Palace at the end of the season after being left out of European squad

NIGERIAN attacker Christantus Uche is set to leave English Premier League side Crystal Palace later this month after the club decided not to exercise the option to sign him permanently and return him to his parent club Getafe.

A creative playmaker, Christantus, 22, was signed by Palace on September 1 last year and moved to Selhurst Park on September 1, as the club eventually succeeded in wooing him from his Spanish club Getafe. He was secured on loan until June 2026, with Palace then under an obligation to buy him for a fee of around £17.3m at the end of the season if he started up to 10 Premier League matches.

However, Uche has had a torrid time in southeast London, finding it hard to get playing time or even a place in match-day squads at all. Over the last few days he, has now fallen out with manager Oliver Glasner, suggesting that the coach no longer trusted him at the club and their relationship has broken down.

All season, Uche has only made 22 appearances in all competitions for Palace with almost all of them involving him coming off the bench. He is still waiting for his first Premier League start and has not played a competitive match in nearly two months.

Writing on social media, addressing the Palace fans, Uche said: "I hope to make you proud whenever I do get the chance to play but I know maybe it won’t happen again because the coach doesn’t like me."

These comments quickly attracted attention ahead of Palace’s Uefa Conference League semi-final clash today, with many supporters questioning whether the player's time at the club was already over. However, speaking during his pre-match press conference, Mr Glasner attempted to calm the situation and insisted the issue had nothing to do with personal dislike.

He added: “For me, I never blame the player for somethings. This stays internal. Uche wasn’t registered for the second part of the Conference League. I had a conversation with him, he wasn’t pleased with it."

Mr Glasner explained that Uefa squad registration rules forced him into a difficult decision after the club brought in new attacking options during the season. According to the coach, injuries and squad planning played a major role in Uche being left out of the Uefa Conference League squad.

“I had to take a decision due to the rules. We had new signings coming in and honestly, if I had known that Eddie Nketiah wouldn’t get fit, Uche would have been registered but at that moment, we thought Eddie was close to returning.

"We had Strand Larsen, Brennan Johnson, Mateta and Eddie Nketiah, which was the reason and from that day he felt that I don’t like him. There was nothing personal. I like him as a person, but again I had to take a decision,” Mr Glasner added.

Mr Glasner, however, insisted that the club continues to support the Nigerian despite his lack of game time. Uche is now expected to leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season and return to Spain 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 it went ahead.  Although he is set to return to Getafe, reports in Spain suggest the La Liga side may still sell Uche this summer to ease the club's financial pressure.

Several Premier League clubs, including Everton, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford, are believed to be monitoring the situation. AC Milan and Nice are said to also be interested although sources close to the player claim Uche would prefer another opportunity in English football.